1. Home>
  2. verbs>
  3. mantener

How to conjugate Mantener in Spanish

mantener to maintain, to keep Irregular Verb Top 100

At a glance: Mantener (to maintain, to keep) is one of the most common irregular verbs in Spanish. In the present tense: mantengo, mantienes, mantiene, mantenemos, mantenéis, mantienen. It is conjugated like tener. Yo adds a g (mantengo); tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (mantienes, mantiene, mantienen); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (mantuve), future (mantendré), conditional (mantendría) and subjunctive.

Past participle
mantenido maintained
Gerund
manteniendo maintaining
Similar
conservar, guardar

Mantener conjugation tables as a PDF

A printable two-page cheat sheet, sent to your inbox.

Indicative tenses of Mantener

Mantener in the Indicative Present

The Indicative Present of mantener is used to talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths. For example, “mantengo”, meaning “I maintain”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Present is known as "El Presente".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YomantengoI maintain
Túmantienesyou maintain
Ella / Él / Ustedmantienes/he maintains
Nosotras / Nosotrosmantenemoswe maintain
Vosotras / Vosotrosmantenéisyou (plural) maintain
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesmantienenthey maintain

How it’s built: Yo adds a g (mantengo); tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (mantienes, mantiene, mantienen); nosotros and vosotros are regular.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Preterite

The Indicative Preterite of mantener is used to talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time. For example, “mantuve”, meaning “I maintained”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Preterite is known as "El Pretérito Indefinido".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YomantuveI maintained
Túmantuvisteyou maintained
Ella / Él / Ustedmantuvos/he maintained
Nosotras / Nosotrosmantuvimoswe maintained
Vosotras / Vosotrosmantuvisteisyou (plural) maintained
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesmantuvieronthey maintained

How it’s built: Irregular stem mantuv- plus the endings -e, -iste, -o, -imos, -isteis, -ieron.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Imperfect

The Indicative Imperfect of mantener is used to describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do. For example, “mantenía”, meaning “I used to maintain”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Imperfect is known as "El Pretérito Imperfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YomanteníaI used to maintain
Túmanteníasyou used to maintain
Ella / Él / Ustedmantenías/he used to maintain
Nosotras / Nosotrosmanteníamoswe used to maintain
Vosotras / Vosotrosmanteníaisyou (plural) used to maintain
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesmanteníanthey used to maintain

How it’s built: Regular: stem manten- plus the -er endings.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Present Continuous

The Indicative Present Continuous of mantener is used to talk about something that is happening continuously or right now. For example, “estoy manteniendo”, meaning “I am maintaining”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Continuous is known as "El Presente Progresivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yoestoy manteniendoI am maintaining
Túestás manteniendoyou are maintaining
Ella / Él / Ustedestá manteniendos/he is maintaining
Nosotras / Nosotrosestamos manteniendowe are maintaining
Vosotras / Vosotrosestáis manteniendoyou (plural) are maintaining
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesestán manteniendothey are maintaining

How it’s built: Estar in the present (estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están) plus the gerund manteniendo.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Informal Future

The Indicative Informal Future of mantener is used to talk about something that will happen in the future, especially in the near future. For example, “voy a mantener”, meaning “I am going to maintain”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Informal Future is known as "El Futuro Próximo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yovoy a mantenerI am going to maintain
Túvas a manteneryou are going to maintain
Ella / Él / Ustedva a manteners/he is going to maintain
Nosotras / Nosotrosvamos a mantenerwe are going to maintain
Vosotras / Vosotrosvais a manteneryou (plural) are going to maintain
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesvan a mantenerthey are going to maintain

How it’s built: Ir in the present (voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van), then a, then the infinitive mantener.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Future

The Indicative Future of mantener is used to talk about something that will happen in the future. For example, “mantendré”, meaning “I will maintain”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Future is known as "El Futuro Simple".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YomantendréI will maintain
Túmantendrásyou will maintain
Ella / Él / Ustedmantendrás/he will maintain
Nosotras / Nosotrosmantendremoswe will maintain
Vosotras / Vosotrosmantendréisyou (plural) will maintain
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesmantendránthey will maintain

How it’s built: Irregular stem mantendr- instead of mantener, plus the future endings.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Conditional

The Indicative Conditional of mantener is used to talk about something that may happen in the future, hypothesis and probabilities. For example, “mantendría”, meaning “I would maintain”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional is known as "El Condicional Simple".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YomantendríaI would maintain
Túmantendríasyou would maintain
Ella / Él / Ustedmantendrías/he would maintain
Nosotras / Nosotrosmantendríamoswe would maintain
Vosotras / Vosotrosmantendríaisyou (plural) would maintain
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesmantendríanthey would maintain

How it’s built: Irregular stem mantendr- instead of mantener, plus the conditional endings.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Present Perfect

The Indicative Present Perfect of mantener is used to describe actions that started recently (in the past) and are still happening now or things that have been done recently. For example, “he mantenido”, meaning “I have maintained”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohe mantenidoI have maintained
Túhas mantenidoyou have maintained
Ella / Él / Ustedha mantenidos/he has maintained
Nosotras / Nosotroshemos mantenidowe have maintained
Vosotras / Vosotroshabéis mantenidoyou (plural) have maintained
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshan mantenidothey have maintained

How it’s built: Haber in the present (he, has, ha, hemos, habéis, han) plus the past participle mantenido.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Past Perfect

The Indicative Past Perfect of mantener is used to talk about actions that happened before another action in the past. For example, “había mantenido”, meaning “I had maintained”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabía mantenidoI had maintained
Túhabías mantenidoyou had maintained
Ella / Él / Ustedhabía mantenidos/he had maintained
Nosotras / Nosotroshabíamos mantenidowe had maintained
Vosotras / Vosotroshabíais mantenidoyou (plural) had maintained
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabían mantenidothey had maintained

How it’s built: Haber in the imperfect (había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían) plus the past participle mantenido.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Future Perfect

The Indicative Future Perfect of mantener is used to talk about something that will have happened in the future after something else has already happened. For example, “habré mantenido”, meaning “I will have maintained”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabré mantenidoI will have maintained
Túhabrás mantenidoyou will have maintained
Ella / Él / Ustedhabrá mantenidos/he will have maintained
Nosotras / Nosotroshabremos mantenidowe will have maintained
Vosotras / Vosotroshabréis mantenidoyou (plural) will have maintained
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrán mantenidothey will have maintained

How it’s built: Haber in the future (habré, habrás, habrá, habremos, habréis, habrán) plus the past participle mantenido.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Indicative Conditional Perfect

The Indicative Conditional Perfect of mantener is used to talk about something that would have happened in the past but didn’t due to another action. For example, “habría mantenido”, meaning “I would have maintained”.

In Spanish, the Indicative Conditional Perfect is known as "El Condicional Perfecto".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohabría mantenidoI would have maintained
Túhabrías mantenidoyou would have maintained
Ella / Él / Ustedhabría mantenidos/he would have maintained
Nosotras / Nosotroshabríamos mantenidowe would have maintained
Vosotras / Vosotroshabríais mantenidoyou (plural) would have maintained
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshabrían mantenidothey would have maintained

How it’s built: Haber in the conditional (habría, habrías, habría, habríamos, habríais, habrían) plus the past participle mantenido.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Want mantener to come out without thinking?

Mantener follows the same pattern as tener. The app teaches that pattern step by step, then quizzes you until both come out automatically.

4.9 stars from 15,000+ ratings
Start free – no card needed

Subjunctive tenses of Mantener

Mantener in the Subjunctive Present

The Subjunctive Present is used to talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about. For example, “mantenga”, meaning “I maintain”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present is known as "El Presente de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YomantengaI maintain
Túmantengasyou maintain
Ella / Él / Ustedmantengas/he maintains
Nosotras / Nosotrosmantengamoswe maintain
Vosotras / Vosotrosmantengáisyou (plural) maintain
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesmantenganthey maintain

How it’s built: Every form follows the yo present, mantengo (mantenga, mantengas, mantenga, mantengamos, mantengáis, mantengan).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Subjunctive Imperfect

The Subjunctive Imperfect is used to speak about unlikely or uncertain events in the past or to cast an opinion (emotional) about something that happened in the past. For example, “mantuviera”, meaning “I maintained”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Imperfect is known as "El Imperfecto Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YomantuvieraI maintained
Túmantuvierasyou maintained
Ella / Él / Ustedmantuvieras/he maintained
Nosotras / Nosotrosmantuviéramoswe maintained
Vosotras / Vosotrosmantuvieraisyou (plural) maintained
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesmantuvieranthey maintained

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, mantuvieron: drop -ron and add the -ra endings; nosotros adds an accent (mantuviéramos).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Subjunctive Future

The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. For example, “mantuviere”, meaning “I will maintain”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
YomantuviereI will maintain
Túmantuvieresyou will maintain
Ella / Él / Ustedmantuvieres/he will maintain
Nosotras / Nosotrosmantuviéremoswe will maintain
Vosotras / Vosotrosmantuviereisyou (plural) will maintain
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesmantuvierenthey will maintain

How it’s built: Built on the irregular ellas/ellos preterite, mantuvieron: drop -ron and add the -re endings; nosotros adds an accent (mantuviéremos).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Subjunctive Present Perfect

The Subjunctive Present Perfect is used to describe past actions or events that are still connected to the present day and to speak about an action that will have happened by a certain time in the future. For example, “haya mantenido”, meaning “I have maintained”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Present Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohaya mantenidoI have maintained
Túhayas mantenidoyou have maintained
Ella / Él / Ustedhaya mantenidos/he has maintained
Nosotras / Nosotroshayamos mantenidowe have maintained
Vosotras / Vosotroshayáis mantenidoyou (plural) have maintained
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshayan mantenidothey have maintained

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive present (haya, hayas, haya, hayamos, hayáis, hayan) plus the past participle mantenido.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Subjunctive Past Perfect

The Subjunctive Past Perfect is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that occurred before other actions/events in the past. For example, “hubiera mantenido”, meaning “I had maintained”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Past Perfect is known as "El Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiera mantenidoI had maintained
Túhubieras mantenidoyou had maintained
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiera mantenidos/he had maintained
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéramos mantenidowe had maintained
Vosotras / Vosotroshubierais mantenidoyou (plural) had maintained
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieran mantenidothey had maintained

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive imperfect (hubiera, hubieras, hubiera, hubiéramos, hubierais, hubieran) plus the past participle mantenido.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Subjunctive Future Perfect

The Subjunctive Future Perfect is used to speak about something that will have happened if a hypothetical situations occurs in the future. For example, “hubiere mantenido”, meaning “I will have maintained”.

In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yohubiere mantenidoI will have maintained
Túhubieres mantenidoyou will have maintained
Ella / Él / Ustedhubiere mantenidos/he will have maintained
Nosotras / Nosotroshubiéremos mantenidowe will have maintained
Vosotras / Vosotroshubiereis mantenidoyou (plural) will have maintained
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedeshubieren mantenidothey will have maintained

How it’s built: Haber in the subjunctive future (hubiere, hubieres, hubiere, hubiéremos, hubiereis, hubieren) plus the past participle mantenido.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Imperative tenses of Mantener

Mantener in the Imperative Affirmative

The Imperative Affirmative is used to give orders and commands, to tell someone to do something. For example, “mantenga”, meaning “(to you formal) maintain!”.

In Spanish, the Imperative Affirmative is known as "El Imperativo Afirmativo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túmantén(to you) maintain!
Ella / Él / Ustedmantenga(to you formal) maintain!
Nosotras / Nosotrosmantengamoslet's maintain!
Vosotras / Vosotrosmantened(to you plural) maintain!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesmantengan(to you plural formal) maintain!

How it’s built: Tú is irregular (mantén); usted, nosotros and ustedes take the subjunctive present (mantenga, mantengamos, mantengan); vosotros swaps the final r of the infinitive for a d (mantened).

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Mantener in the Imperative Negative

The Imperative Negative is used to give orders and commands, telling someone not to do something. For example, “no mantenga”, meaning “(to you formal) don't maintain!”.

In Spanish, the Imperative Negative is known as "El Imperativo Negativo".

PronounSpanishEnglish
Yo--
Túno mantengas(to you) don't maintain!
Ella / Él / Ustedno mantenga(to you formal) don't maintain!
Nosotras / Nosotrosno mantengamoslet's not maintain!
Vosotras / Vosotrosno mantengáis(to you plural) don't maintain!
Ellas / Ellos / Ustedesno mantengan(to you plural formal) don't maintain!

How it’s built: No plus the subjunctive present: no mantengas, no mantenga, no mantengamos, no mantengáis, no mantengan.

Letters in red show where a form differs from the regular pattern.

Or use our app:


Back to top

Example sentences and usage

  • ¿Qué te mantiene despierto hasta tan tarde? What keeps you up so late?
  • Mantén una postura en todo. Take a mean position in everything.

Back to top

Frequently asked questions about Mantener

Is mantener a regular or irregular verb?

Mantener is an irregular Spanish verb. It is conjugated like tener. In the present tense: yo adds a g (mantengo); tú, ella/él and ellas/ellos change e to ie (mantienes, mantiene, mantienen); nosotros and vosotros are regular. It is also irregular in the preterite (mantuve), future (mantendré), conditional (mantendría) and subjunctive.

How do you conjugate mantener in the present tense (presente)?

In the present tense (presente), mantener is conjugated as: yo mantengo, tú mantienes, él/ella/usted mantiene, nosotros mantenemos, vosotros mantenéis, ellos/ellas/ustedes mantienen. The present tense is used To talk about situations, events or thoughts that are happening now or in the near future. It is also used to talk about facts and truths.

How do you conjugate mantener in the preterite (pretérito indefinido)?

In the preterite (pretérito indefinido), mantener is conjugated as: yo mantuve, tú mantuviste, él/ella/usted mantuvo, nosotros mantuvimos, vosotros mantuvisteis, ellos/ellas/ustedes mantuvieron. The preterite is used To talk about actions completed in the past, at a specific point in time.

How do you conjugate mantener in the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto)?

In the imperfect (pretérito imperfecto), mantener is conjugated as: yo mantenía, tú mantenías, él/ella/usted mantenía, nosotros manteníamos, vosotros manteníais, ellos/ellas/ustedes mantenían. The imperfect is used To describe regular and repeated actions that happened in the past and descriptions of things you used to do.

How do you conjugate mantener in the future tense (futuro simple)?

In the future tense (futuro simple), mantener is conjugated as: yo mantendré, tú mantendrás, él/ella/usted mantendrá, nosotros mantendremos, vosotros mantendréis, ellos/ellas/ustedes mantendrán. The future tense is used To talk about something that will happen in the future.

How do you conjugate mantener in the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente)?

In the present subjunctive (subjuntivo presente), mantener is conjugated as: yo mantenga, tú mantengas, él/ella/usted mantenga, nosotros mantengamos, vosotros mantengáis, ellos/ellas/ustedes mantengan. The present subjunctive is used To talk about situations of uncertainty, or emotions such as wishes, desires and hopes. It differs from the indicative mood due to the uncertainty of the events which are being spoken about.

What’s the difference between mantener and mantenerse?

Mantener means ‘to maintain, to keep’ and mantenerse means ‘to support (oneself), to hold up, to remain’. Mantenerse is the reflexive form of mantener, so it always takes a reflexive pronoun – me, te, se, nos, os or se – that matches the subject. The verb itself is conjugated the same way: in the present tense, yo mantengo becomes me mantengo. In the affirmative tú imperative the pronoun attaches to the end of the verb, so mantén becomes mantente.

What are some common example sentences using mantener?

Here are everyday sentences using mantener: ¿Qué te mantiene despierto hasta tan tarde? (What keeps you up so late?) Mantén una postura en todo. (Take a mean position in everything.)


Back to top

Downloadable cheat sheets

Download and print a cheat sheet of Mantener Spanish conjugation tables in image or PDF format:

Download image
mantener conjugation in Spanish
Back to top

Practise Mantener conjugations (free mobile & web app)

Get full conjugation tables for Mantener and 2,500+ other verbs on-the-go with Ella Verbs for iOS, Android, and web.

We also guide you through learning all Spanish tenses and test your knowledge with conjugation quizzes. Download it for free!

verb-library.png conjugation-empezar-1.png
4.9 stars from 15,000+ ratings

Back to top

About Ella Verbs

👋 Hola! We built Ella Verbs to help people (and ourselves!) master one of the hardest parts of Spanish – verb conjugation. It guides you through learning all tenses in an easy-to-follow way, giving you levels of bite-sized lessons and fun quizzes. Here is a 6 minute overview of all of the app’s features:

It has changed a lot over the 9+ years we have been working on it, but the goal remains the same – to help you master Spanish conjugation! You can download and try it for free, and, if you do, please send any and all feedback our way!

– Jane & Brian

4.9 stars from 15,000+ ratings

Back to top

Want to explore other verb conjugations?

Why not check out Mantenerse – to support (oneself), to hold up, to remain or see the complete list of verbs here.


Back to top
Logo

Download for free now

Join 250,000+ others and master your Spanish conjugation with the top-rated verb app, Ella Verbs

4.9 stars from 15,000+ ratings

Great program that has and is helping me immensely. Four years [studying Spanish] and after just a couple of days with this app I finally am 'getting' the verb thing into my head. After the first couple of lessons I finally feel comfortable conversing with the natives here in Panama. I still have a long way to go but this application was the key for me. Thank you!

Google Play Store