Manter in Portuguese: Keep a State, Plan or Habit Going

Identify what stays and in what condition

Caldas Aulete’s manter entry records preserving something in a state or condition, alongside other uses of the verb. The reference was checked on October 21, 2026.

• Vamos manter o mesmo horário. — “Let’s keep the same time.”
• Pode manter a porta aberta? — “Can you keep the door open?”
• Quero manter esse hábito durante a viagem. — “I want to keep up that habit during the trip.”

The time, door or habit is what is preserved. Sometimes the desired state is explicit, as with aberta. Sometimes the noun phrase already identifies the arrangement, as with o mesmo horário. A plan to preserve a habit is still a plan; it does not guarantee that the habit will continue in every circumstance.

The description agrees with the thing maintained

• Mantenha a porta aberta. — “Keep the door open.”
• Mantenha os arquivos organizados. — “Keep the files organized.”
• Vamos manter as perguntas curtas. — “Let’s keep the questions short.”

Aberta matches feminine singular porta. Organizados matches masculine plural arquivos. Curtas matches feminine plural perguntas. The speaker’s gender does not determine these adjective endings: the adjective describes the thing maintained.

For a physical object placed somewhere for safekeeping, guardar may be a better verb: Vou guardar a chave na mochila — “I’m going to put the key away in the backpack.” Keeping a state and putting an object away are different actions, even if English uses keep for both.

Original dialogue: preserve the part that still works

B checks one part of the arrangement rather than assuming everything changes. The final line explicitly keeps the time. This original activity is useful for separating a changed date from an unchanged hour; in a real exchange, clarify which week and time zone are intended.

Learn a few useful forms as complete examples

• Eu mantenho o horário. — “I keep the time unchanged.”
• Ela mantém o hábito. — “She keeps up the habit.”
• Ontem mantive a porta aberta. — “Yesterday I kept the door open.”
• Vamos manter o plano. — “Let’s keep the plan.”

Manter is not a regular verb of the shape mantenir. Useful forms include mantenho, mantém, mantive and the infinitive manter. After vamos in the final example, keep the infinitive. Do not build a past form such as manteu by analogy with a regular verb.

For maintaining communication with another person, use the separate guide to manter contato. Here the focus is the state, plan or habit that remains in place, and which detail you intend to preserve.

Practice: what remains unchanged?

1. Complete Mantenha as portas ___ with aberto.
2. Which thing is preserved in vamos manter o horário?
3. Say you kept the plan yesterday.
4. You are putting a key away in a backpack. Give a clear sentence.
5. Complete Vamos ___ as perguntas curtas.

Continue with real conversation practice

For longer listening about daily habits, use the episode guide about handling everyday problems. These dialogues and exercises are original written practice. Choose one pattern, change a detail and use it to describe your own experience.

Continue with Real Life Portuguese for native Brazilian audio and everyday expressions. Choose a short exchange available in the app. Listen for the speaker’s intention, then use a pattern from this activity to prepare a reply that fits your own situation. Bruno Lopes is a co-founder of the app.