Which to use
“maintien” is a noun and “maintienne” is a verb - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #3,273
- “maintien” frequency rank
- #43,000
- “maintienne” frequency rank
- 46273
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | maintien | maintienne |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Action de maintenir. | Première personne du singulier du présent du subjonctif de maintenir. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set maintien and maintienne apart are highlighted. They share 8 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: maintien is \mɛ̃.tjɛ̃\ while maintienne is \mɛ̃.tjɛn\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 extra letter(s) - “maintien” sits inside “maintienne”, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs verb), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 46273, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
maintien is recorded at frequency rank #3,273, classified as anoun, pronounced \mɛ̃.tjɛ̃\. maintienne is at rank #43,000, tagged as averb, pronounced \mɛ̃.tjɛn\.
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 46273, this pair ranks #196,217 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of maintien vs maintienne
Shared letters: aeimnt. Private to "maintien": -. Private to "maintienne": -.
"maintien" · 8 letters · shape CVVCCVVC · "maintienne" · 10 letters · shape CVVCCVVCCV
Known mistypes of this pair
- maintien ← amintien · mainiten · mainntien · maintein · maintienn · maintine · mainttien · maitnien
- maintienne ← amintienne · mainitenne · mainntienne · mainteinne · maintiene · maintienen · maintinene · mainttienne
Frequency comparison
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "maintien" and "maintienne" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "maintien" or "maintienne"?
Remembering maintien vs maintienne
The fastest way to pick the right one every time.
- Check the role first: if you need a noun, it's “maintien”; for a verb, it's “maintienne”.
- See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “maintien” entry
- Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable