mantener Imperfect Conjugation
mantener — to keep
Mantener is regular in the imperfect: mantenía, mantenías, mantenía.
mantener Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect for ongoing past actions or states where the specific end time isn't important, like 'I used to keep...'.
Notes on mantener in the Imperfect
Despite being irregular in almost every other tense, mantener is completely regular in the imperfect.
Example Sentences
De niño, mantenía mi cuarto muy limpio.
As a child, I used to keep my room very clean.
yo
Ellos mantenían una relación a distancia.
They were maintaining a long-distance relationship.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: mantenaba
Correct: mantenía
Why: Learners sometimes use -aba endings for -er/ir verbs. Use -ía for the imperfect of mantener.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: mantengo
Mantener has a 'go' in the yo form and an e-to-ie stem change for others: mantengo, mantienes, mantiene.
Preterite
yo: mantuve
The preterite of mantener is highly irregular, using a 'uv' stem: mantuve, mantuviste, mantuvo, mantuvimos, mantuvisteis, mantuvieron.
Future
yo: mantendré
The future tense uses an irregular stem: mantendré, mantendrás, mantendrá.
Conditional
yo: mantendría
The conditional uses the same irregular stem as the future: mantendría, mantendrías, mantendría.
Present Subjunctive
yo: mantenga
The present subjunctive is based on the 'mantengo' stem: mantenga, mantengas, mantenga.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: mantuviera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'uv' stem from the preterite: mantuviera, mantuvieras, mantuviera.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: mantén
The imperative has a short 'tú' form: mantén, and uses subjunctive forms for others.
Negative Imperative
yo: no mantengas
The negative imperative always uses present subjunctive forms: no mantengas, no mantenga.