Mantenir means “to maintain, keep, preserve, support,” while pronominal mantenir-se commonly means “to remain, stay, keep oneself.” It inherits the irregular stem families of tenir: present mantinc, velar mantingu- in the simple past and subjunctive, contracted future mantindr-, and participle mantingut. The prefix man- never regularizes the base verb.
The forms become manageable as a chain of principal parts: mantinc – mantingué – mantingui – mantindré – mantingut. Unchanged manten- appears in much of the present, throughout the imperfect, and in the infinitive and gerund. Compare the complete base verb on the tenir reference page.
Nonfinite forms
| Form | Catalan | English guide |
|---|---|---|
| Infinitive | mantenir / mantindre **(regional: Valencian / Northwestern)** | to maintain; to keep |
| Perfect infinitive | haver mantingut | to have maintained / kept |
| Gerund | mantenint | maintaining; keeping |
| Perfect gerund | havent mantingut | having maintained / kept |
| Participle | mantingut; mantinguda, mantinguts, mantingudes | maintained; kept |
The gerund is mantenint, not mantinguent. The velar consonant belongs to specific finite stems and the participle; it does not spread mechanically to every form. In compounds, mantingut is invariable: les empreses han mantingut els preus. Agreement belongs to adjectival and passive uses, such as una tradició ben mantinguda.
Indicative: simple and periphrastic tenses
| Tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | mantinc | mantens | manté | mantenim | manteniu | mantenen |
| Imperfect | mantenia | mantenies | mantenia | manteníem | manteníeu | mantenien |
| Periphrastic past | vaig mantenir | vas mantenir | va mantenir | vam mantenir | vau mantenir | van mantenir |
| Simple past | mantinguí | mantingueres | mantingué | mantinguérem | mantinguéreu | mantingueren |
| Future | mantindré | mantindràs | mantindrà | mantindrem | mantindreu | mantindran |
| Conditional | mantindria | mantindries | mantindria | mantindríem | mantindríeu | mantindrien |
The accent in third-person manté is obligatory. The everyday completed past is periphrastic va mantenir; the synthetic series mantinguí... is common in narrative prose (formal/literary) and survives in speech in some Valencian and Balearic areas (regional). The general future and conditional use mantindr-, never mantenir-; (regional: Balearic) mantendr- is also established.
Mantinc el contacte amb els companys de la universitat.
I keep in touch with my university classmates.
L'edifici mantenia la façana original, però l'interior era nou.
The building retained its original façade, but the interior was new.
Malgrat la pressió, la portaveu va mantenir la mateixa versió dels fets.
Despite the pressure, the spokesperson stuck to the same account of events.
Si baixa la demanda, mantindrem igualment els llocs de treball.
If demand falls, we will still preserve the jobs.
Indicative: compound tenses
Compound forms use haver + mantingut, never tenir as the auxiliary.
| Tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present perfect | he mantingut | has mantingut | ha mantingut | hem mantingut | heu mantingut | han mantingut |
| Pluperfect | havia mantingut | havies mantingut | havia mantingut | havíem mantingut | havíeu mantingut | havien mantingut |
| Past anterior | haguí mantingut | hagueres mantingut | hagué mantingut | haguérem mantingut | haguéreu mantingut | hagueren mantingut |
| Future perfect | hauré mantingut | hauràs mantingut | haurà mantingut | haurem mantingut | haureu mantingut | hauran mantingut |
| Conditional perfect | hauria mantingut | hauries mantingut | hauria mantingut | hauríem mantingut | hauríeu mantingut | haurien mantingut |
The past anterior is chiefly (formal/literary). Its periphrastic equivalent is vaig haver mantingut, vas haver mantingut, va haver mantingut, vam haver mantingut, vau haver mantingut, van haver mantingut. Both are far less frequent in conversation than havia mantingut.
Durant vint anys han mantingut oberta la llibreria del barri.
They have kept the neighborhood bookshop open for twenty years.
Sense aquella subvenció no hauríem mantingut el servei nocturn.
Without that grant, we wouldn't have maintained the night service.
Subjunctive: simple and compound forms
| Tense | jo | tu | ell / ella / vostè | nosaltres | vosaltres | ells / elles / vostès |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | mantingui | mantinguis | mantingui | mantinguem | mantingueu | mantinguin |
| Imperfect | mantingués | mantinguessis | mantingués | mantinguéssim | mantinguéssiu | mantinguessin |
| Present perfect | hagi mantingut | hagis mantingut | hagi mantingut | hàgim mantingut | hàgiu mantingut | hagin mantingut |
| Pluperfect | hagués mantingut | haguessis mantingut | hagués mantingut | haguéssim mantingut | haguéssiu mantingut | haguessin mantingut |
Every general-standard subjunctive form uses mantingu-. The periphrastic subjunctive past is vagi mantenir, vagis mantenir, vagi mantenir, vàgim mantenir, vàgiu mantenir, vagin mantenir; the anterior inserts haver before mantingut. These latter paradigms are complete but relatively infrequent.
Cal que mantingueu lliures les sortides d'emergència.
You must keep the emergency exits clear.
Volien que ens mantinguéssim al marge de la negociació.
They wanted us to stay out of the negotiation.
Imperative and weak pronouns
| Addressee | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tu | mantén / mantingues | no mantinguis |
| vostè | mantingui | no mantingui |
| nosaltres | mantinguem | no mantinguem |
| vosaltres | manteniu / mantingueu | no mantingueu |
| vostès | mantinguin | no mantinguin |
The paired affirmative forms reflect two established imperative patterns in the tenir family; distribution varies by construction and variety. (Regional: Valencian) also has singular mantín, while (regional: Balearic) has manté when no weak pronoun follows. Negative commands always use the subjunctive series. Affirmative commands take enclitics—mantén-la informada, mantingues-te ferm, mantingueu-vos units—whereas negative commands place them before the verb: no la mantinguis en espera.
Mantén-la informada si canvia l'hora de l'operació.
Keep her informed if the time of the operation changes.
No us mantingueu en silenci si detecteu cap irregularitat.
Don't remain silent if you notice any irregularity.
Transitive mantenir and pronominal mantenir-se
Transitive mantenir acts on an object: mantenir la calma, una promesa, una família, una màquina, una distància. It can also take an object plus predicate: mantenir la porta tancada, mantenir algú informat. The object clitic replaces that object, not the predicate: la mantindrem oberta.
El tècnic manté els equips en bon estat amb revisions mensuals.
The technician keeps the equipment in good condition with monthly inspections.
No podem mantenir una conversa seriosa amb tant de soroll.
We can't carry on a serious conversation with so much noise.
Pronominal mantenir-se is a lexical construction meaning “remain/stay” or “support oneself”: mantenir-se tranquil, mantenir-se dret, mantenir-se en forma, mantenir-se al marge. Its reflexive clitic must agree with the subject. Removing se changes the valency: la temperatura es manté estable means “the temperature remains stable,” while el termòstat manté estable la temperatura means “the thermostat keeps the temperature stable.”
Tot i les preguntes, la testimoni es va mantenir serena.
Despite the questions, the witness remained calm.
Frequent collocations include mantenir el contacte amb, mantenir una relació amb, mantenir-se fidel a, mantenir-se en contacte and mantenir algú al corrent de. Their prepositions are not interchangeable: a person is fidel a a principle and al corrent de a development.
(Regional: Valencian / Northwestern) mantindre is a standard citation form. (Regional: Valencian) the present subjunctive includes mantinga, mantingues, mantinga, mantinguem, mantingueu, mantinguen, and the imperfect may use mantinguera.... (Regional: Balearic) the coherent regional series includes mantenc, simple-past and subjunctive variants in mantengu-, future and conditional mantendr-, and participle mantengut alongside the general forms.
Common Mistakes
❌ La directora manteneix la decisió inicial.
Incorrect—mantenir is not an incoative verb and never inserts -eix-.
✅ La directora manté la decisió inicial.
The director is upholding the original decision.
❌ Demà manteniré el servei fins a mitjanit.
Incorrect—the future uses the contracted stem mantindr-.
✅ Demà mantindré el servei fins a mitjanit.
Tomorrow I will keep the service running until midnight.
❌ Espero que mantens la calma durant l'entrevista.
Incorrect—the desired future state requires the present subjunctive.
✅ Espero que mantinguis la calma durant l'entrevista.
I hope you keep calm during the interview.
❌ Després de la cursa, ella va mantenir dreta amb dificultat.
Incorrect—remaining upright requires pronominal mantenir-se.
✅ Després de la cursa, ella es va mantenir dreta amb dificultat.
After the race, she remained standing with difficulty.
❌ Les dues entitats han mantingudes les seves posicions.
Incorrect—the participle in a haver compound is invariable.
✅ Les dues entitats han mantingut les seves posicions.
Both organizations have maintained their positions.
Key Takeaways
Treat mantenir as tenir with a prefix: mantinc, mantingué, mantingui, mantindré, mantingut. Use manten- in the imperfect and gerund, not an invented velar form. Transitive mantenir keeps an object in a condition; pronominal mantenir-se describes a subject remaining in that condition. Preserve the clitic and governed prepositions whenever the intended meaning depends on them.
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