Which to use
“mantiene” and “mantienen” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #2,084
- “mantiene” frequency rank
- #4,021
- “mantienen” frequency rank
- 6105
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | mantiene | mantienen |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de mantener. | Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de mantener o de mantenerse. |
Where the eye mixes mantiene and mantienen
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 8 letters in sequence. mantiene runs 8 letters (CVCCVVCV) against mantienen's 9 (CVCCVVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Visual trap between mantiene and mantienen
A purely visual mix-up. mantiene ([mãn̪ˈt̪jene]) and mantienen ([mãn̪ˈt̪jenẽn]) 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) - “mantiene” sits inside “mantienen”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 6105, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
mantiene is recorded at frequency rank #2,084, classified as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈt̪jene]. mantienen is at rank #4,021, tagged as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈt̪jenẽn].
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 6105, this pair ranks #311,733 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of mantiene vs mantienen
Shared letters: aeimnt. Private to "mantiene": -. Private to "mantienen": -.
"mantiene" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV · "mantienen" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC
Known mistypes of this pair
Frequently Asked Questions
Do "mantiene" and "mantienen" mean the same thing in a sentence?
In ordinary Spanish text, does "mantiene" or "mantienen" show up more?
After this comparison
Visual near-miss handled. Browse the word pages or a neighbour when the next look-alike shows up.
- Full dictionary entry for "mantiene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "mantienen" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #311,733 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "mantiene" and "mantienen" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "mantienen vs mantienes". 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 #311,733 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.