Which to use
“mantenía” and “mantenían” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #10,023
- “mantenía” frequency rank
- #17,758
- “mantenían” frequency rank
- 27781
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mantenía | mantenían |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de mantener o de mantenerse. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de mantener o de mantenerse. |
Where the eye mixes mantenía and mantenían
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. mantenía runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVV) against mantenían's 9 (CVCCVCVVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Look-alike desk: mantenía vs mantenían
A purely visual mix-up. mantenía ([mãn̪t̪eˈnia]) and mantenían ([mãn̪t̪eˈniãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “mantenía” sits inside “mantenían”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 27781, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mantenía is recorded at frequency rank #10,023, classified as averb, pronounced [mãn̪t̪eˈnia]. mantenían is at rank #17,758, tagged as averb, pronounced [mãn̪t̪eˈniãn].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 27781, this pair ranks #225,195 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of mantenía vs mantenían
Shared letters: aemntí. Private to "mantenía": -. Private to "mantenían": -.
"mantenía" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV · "mantenían" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mantenía" and "mantenían" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mantenía" or "mantenían" show up more?
What to do next
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mantenía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mantenían" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #225,195 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mantenía" and "mantenían" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mantengas vs mantenían". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #225,195 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.