Ella VerbsHow to conjugate Mantener in Spanish
To maintain, to keep Irregular Verb Top 100
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Indicative tenses of Mantener
- Mantener in the Indicative Present
- Mantener in the Indicative Preterite
- Mantener in the Indicative Imperfect
- Mantener in the Indicative Present Continuous
- Mantener in the Indicative Informal Future
- Mantener in the Indicative Future
- Mantener in the Indicative Conditional
- Mantener in the Indicative Present Perfect
- Mantener in the Indicative Past Perfect
- Mantener in the Indicative Future Perfect
- Mantener in the Indicative Conditional Perfect
- Subjunctive tenses of Mantener
- Imperative tenses of Mantener
- Example sentences and usage
- Downloadable cheat sheet (PDF)
- Practice Mantener conjugations (free mobile app)
Introduction
Mantener is the Spanish verb for "to maintain, to keep". It is an irregular verb, and one of the most popular 100 Spanish verbs. Read on below to see how it is conjugated in the 18 major Spanish tenses!
Similar verbs to mantener include: conservar, guardar.
| Spanish | English | |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | mantener | to maintain, to keep |
| Past participle | mantenido | maintained |
| Gerund | manteniendo | maintaining |
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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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mantengo | I maintain |
| Tú | mantienes | you maintain |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mantiene | s/he maintains, you (formal) maintains |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mantenemos | we maintain |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mantenéis | you (plural) maintain |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | mantienen | they maintain, you (plural formal) maintain |
The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mantuve | I maintained |
| Tú | mantuviste | you maintained |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mantuvo | s/he maintained, you (formal) maintained |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mantuvimos | we maintained |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mantuvisteis | you (plural) maintained |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | mantuvieron | they maintained, you (plural formal) maintained |
The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mantenía | I used to maintain |
| Tú | mantenías | you used to maintain |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mantenía | s/he used to maintain, you (formal) used to maintain |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | manteníamos | we used to maintain |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | manteníais | you (plural) used to maintain |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | mantenían | they used to maintain, you (plural formal) used to maintain |
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | estoy manteniendo | I am maintaining |
| Tú | estás manteniendo | you are maintaining |
| Ella / Él / Usted | está manteniendo | s/he is maintaining, you (formal) are maintaining |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | estamos manteniendo | we are maintaining |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | estáis manteniendo | you (plural) are maintaining |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | están manteniendo | they are maintaining, you (plural formal) are maintaining |
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | voy a mantener | I am going to maintain |
| Tú | vas a mantener | you are going to maintain |
| Ella / Él / Usted | va a mantener | s/he is going to maintain, you (formal) are going to maintain |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | vamos a mantener | we are going to maintain |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | vais a mantener | you (plural) are going to maintain |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | van a mantener | they are going to maintain, you (plural formal) are going to maintain |
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mantendré | I will maintain |
| Tú | mantendrás | you will maintain |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mantendrá | s/he will maintain, you (formal) will maintain |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mantendremos | we will maintain |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mantendréis | you (plural) will maintain |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | mantendrán | they will maintain, you (plural formal) will maintain |
The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mantendría | I would maintain |
| Tú | mantendrías | you would maintain |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mantendría | s/he would maintain, you (formal) would maintain |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mantendríamos | we would maintain |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mantendríais | you (plural) would maintain |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | mantendrían | they would maintain, you (plural formal) would maintain |
The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | he mantenido | I have maintained |
| Tú | has mantenido | you have maintained |
| Ella / Él / Usted | ha mantenido | s/he has maintained, you (formal) have maintained |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hemos mantenido | we have maintained |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habéis mantenido | you (plural) have maintained |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | han mantenido | they have maintained, you (plural formal) have maintained |
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | había mantenido | I had maintained |
| Tú | habías mantenido | you had maintained |
| Ella / Él / Usted | había mantenido | s/he had maintained, you (formal) had maintained |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habíamos mantenido | we had maintained |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habíais mantenido | you (plural) had maintained |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habían mantenido | they had maintained, you (plural formal) had maintained |
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habré mantenido | I will have maintained |
| Tú | habrás mantenido | you will have maintained |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habrá mantenido | s/he will have maintained, you (formal) will have maintained |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habremos mantenido | we will have maintained |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habréis mantenido | you (plural) will have maintained |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrán mantenido | they will have maintained, you (plural formal) will have maintained |
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | habría mantenido | I would have maintained |
| Tú | habrías mantenido | you would have maintained |
| Ella / Él / Usted | habría mantenido | s/he would have maintained, you (formal) would have maintained |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | habríamos mantenido | we would have maintained |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | habríais mantenido | you (plural) would have maintained |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | habrían mantenido | they would have maintained, you (plural formal) would have maintained |
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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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mantenga | I maintain |
| Tú | mantengas | you maintain |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mantenga | s/he maintains, you (formal) maintains |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mantengamos | we maintain |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mantengáis | you (plural) maintain |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | mantengan | they maintain, you (plural formal) maintain |
The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mantuviera | I maintained |
| Tú | mantuvieras | you maintained |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mantuviera | s/he maintained, you (formal) maintained |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mantuviéramos | we maintained |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mantuvierais | you (plural) maintained |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | mantuvieran | they maintained, you (plural formal) maintained |
The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.
Mantener in the Subjunctive Future
The Subjunctive Future is used to speak about hypothetical situations, and actions/events that may happen in the future. Note that this is very rarely used in Spanish. For example, "mantuviere", meaning "I will maintain".
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future is known as "El Futuro de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | mantuviere | I will maintain |
| Tú | mantuvieres | you will maintain |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mantuviere | s/he will maintain, you (formal) will maintain |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mantuviéremos | we will maintain |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mantuviereis | you (plural) will maintain |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | mantuvieren | they will maintain, you (plural formal) will maintain |
The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | haya mantenido | I have maintained |
| Tú | hayas mantenido | you have maintained |
| Ella / Él / Usted | haya mantenido | s/he has maintained, you (formal) have maintained |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hayamos mantenido | we have maintained |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hayáis mantenido | you (plural) have maintained |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hayan mantenido | they have maintained, you (plural formal) have maintained |
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiera mantenido | I had maintained |
| Tú | hubieras mantenido | you had maintained |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiera mantenido | s/he had maintained, you (formal) had maintained |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéramos mantenido | we had maintained |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubierais mantenido | you (plural) had maintained |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieran mantenido | they had maintained, you (plural formal) had maintained |
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. Note that this is very rarely used in Spanish. For example, "hubiere mantenido", meaning "I will have maintained".
In Spanish, the Subjunctive Future Perfect is known as "El Futuro Perfecto de Subjuntivo".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | hubiere mantenido | I will have maintained |
| Tú | hubieres mantenido | you will have maintained |
| Ella / Él / Usted | hubiere mantenido | s/he will have maintained, you (formal) will have maintained |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | hubiéremos mantenido | we will have maintained |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | hubiereis mantenido | you (plural) will have maintained |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | hubieren mantenido | they will have maintained, you (plural formal) will have maintained |
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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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | mantén | (to you) maintain! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | mantenga | (to you formal) maintain! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | mantengamos | let's maintain! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | mantened | (to you plural) maintain! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | mantengan | (to you plural formal) maintain! |
The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.
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".
| Pronoun | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | - | - |
| Tú | no mantengas | (to you) don't maintain! |
| Ella / Él / Usted | no mantenga | (to you formal) don't maintain! |
| Nosotras / Nosotros | no mantengamos | let's not maintain! |
| Vosotras / Vosotros | no mantengáis | (to you plural) don't maintain! |
| Ellas / Ellos / Ustedes | no mantengan | (to you plural formal) don't maintain! |
The red dot () above denotes an irregular conjugation.
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.
Downloadable cheat sheets
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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.
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