manteníavsmantenidoWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“mantenía” and “mantenido” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#10,023
“mantenía” frequency rank
#5,226
“mantenido” frequency rank
15249
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mantenía mantenido
Definition Primera persona del singular (yo) del pretérito imperfecto de indicativo de mantener o de mantenerse. Participio de mantener o de mantenerse.

Where the eye mixes mantenía and mantenido

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence. mantenía runs 8 letters (CVCCVCVV) against mantenido's 9 (CVCCVCVCV) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.

8 ch
mantenía
9 ch
mantenido

Visual trap between mantenía and mantenido

A purely visual mix-up. mantenía ([mãn̪t̪eˈnia]) and mantenido ([mãn̪t̪eˈnið̞o]) 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 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 15249, 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]. mantenido is at rank #5,226, tagged as averb, pronounced [mãn̪t̪eˈnið̞o].

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 15249, this pair ranks #280,949 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of mantenía vs mantenido

Shared letters: aemnt. Private to "mantenía": í. Private to "mantenido": dio.

"mantenía" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVV  ·  "mantenido" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVCVCV

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mantenidoamntenido · manetnido · manntenido · manteindo · mantendio · manteniddo · manteniod · mantennido

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "mantenía" and "mantenido" be used interchangeably?
No. They are said differently ([mãn̪t̪eˈnia] versus [mãn̪t̪eˈnið̞o]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "mantenía" vs "mantenido" - which ranks higher?
"mantenido" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #5,226 in our Spanish list, against #10,023 for "mantenía". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

What to do next

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "mantenía" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mantenido" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #280,949 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mantenía" and "mantenido" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mantengas vs mantenía". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #280,949 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list