mantienevsmantienesTell them apart

Which to use

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

#2,084
“mantiene” frequency rank
#27,679
“mantienes” frequency rank
29763
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature mantiene mantienes
Definition Tercera persona del singular (él, ella, ello; usted, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de mantener. Segunda persona del singular (tú) del presente de indicativo de mantener o de mantenerse.

Where the eye mixes mantiene and mantienes

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

8 ch
mantiene
9 ch
mantienes

Visual trap between mantiene and mantienes

A purely visual mix-up. mantiene ([mãn̪ˈt̪jene]) and mantienes ([mãn̪ˈt̪jenes]) 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 “mantienes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 29763, 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]. mantienes is at rank #27,679, tagged as averb, pronounced [mãn̪ˈt̪jenes].

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 29763, this pair ranks #215,371 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of mantiene vs mantienes

Shared letters: aeimnt. Private to "mantiene": -. Private to "mantienes": s.

"mantiene" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVVCV  ·  "mantienes" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • mantieneamntiene · manitene · manntiene · manteine · mantieen · mantienne · mantinee · manttiene
  • mantienesamntienes · manitenes · manntienes · manteines · mantieens · mantieness · mantiennes · mantiense

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "mantiene" and "mantienes" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([mãn̪ˈt̪jene] versus [mãn̪ˈt̪jenes]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Which is more common, "mantiene" or "mantienes"?
"mantiene" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #2,084 in our Spanish list, against #27,679 for "mantienes". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Useful next steps

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

  • Full dictionary entry for "mantiene" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "mantienes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #215,371 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "mantiene" and "mantienes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "manteles 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 #215,371 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