The Spanish verb mantener means "to maintain, keep". Below are its 8 tenses as tables, with the irregular forms marked, 4 example sentences and answers to 3 common questions. Press play next to a present tense form or an example to hear it.
The present tense of mantener is yo mantengo, tú mantienes, él/ella/usted mantiene, nosotros mantenemos, vosotros mantenéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes mantienen. It is irregular: 4 of its 6 present forms break the regular -er pattern. The tables below cover 8 tenses, from the present to the present perfect. Every present form and 4 example sentences have a listen button.
Forms in orange break the regular -er pattern.
| yo | mantengo (irregular) | |
|---|---|---|
| tú | mantienes (irregular) | |
| él/ | mantiene (irregular) | |
| nosotros | mantenemos | |
| vosotros | mantenéis | |
| ellos/ | mantienen (irregular) |
| yo | mantuve (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tú | mantuviste (irregular) |
| él/ | mantuvo (irregular) |
| nosotros | mantuvimos (irregular) |
| vosotros | mantuvisteis (irregular) |
| ellos/ | mantuvieron (irregular) |
| yo | mantenía |
|---|---|
| tú | mantenías |
| él/ | mantenía |
| nosotros | manteníamos |
| vosotros | manteníais |
| ellos/ | mantenían |
| yo | mantendré (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tú | mantendrás (irregular) |
| él/ | mantendrá (irregular) |
| nosotros | mantendremos (irregular) |
| vosotros | mantendréis (irregular) |
| ellos/ | mantendrán (irregular) |
| yo | mantendría (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tú | mantendrías (irregular) |
| él/ | mantendría (irregular) |
| nosotros | mantendríamos (irregular) |
| vosotros | mantendríais (irregular) |
| ellos/ | mantendrían (irregular) |
| yo | mantenga (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tú | mantengas (irregular) |
| él/ | mantenga (irregular) |
| nosotros | mantengamos (irregular) |
| vosotros | mantengáis (irregular) |
| ellos/ | mantengan (irregular) |
| tú | mantén (irregular) |
|---|---|
| usted | mantenga (irregular) |
| nosotros | mantengamos (irregular) |
| vosotros | mantened |
| ustedes | mantengan (irregular) |
| yo | he mantenido |
|---|---|
| tú | has mantenido |
| él/ | ha mantenido |
| nosotros | hemos mantenido |
| vosotros | habéis mantenido |
| ellos/ | han mantenido |
Mantener is irregular. The table shows the stems manteng in forms such as mantengo and mantenga, mantuv in the preterite, and mantendr in the future and conditional. The past participle is mantenido and the gerund is manteniendo.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in Spanish with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
No. Mantener is irregular, with forms such as mantengo, mantuve, mantendré, and mantenga.
The preterite forms are mantuve, mantuviste, mantuvo, mantuvimos, mantuvisteis, and mantuvieron.
Both the future and conditional use the stem mantendr. The forms include mantendré and mantendría.