The correct spelling is maintenance—no extra i, no swapped vowels, no missing letters. People trip over it because maintenance sounds smoother than it looks, and the middle part is easy to “guess” wrong. This page focuses on the standard spelling, the most common mistakes, and the small details that usually cause the mix-up.
The Right Spelling at a Glance
✅ Correct
maintenance
❌ Wrong
maintainance, maintenence, maintanance
In major dictionaries, maintenance is the listed form for the noun meaning upkeep or ongoing care. ✅Source
Standard Spelling of Maintenance
- Correct Form
- maintenance (noun)
- Core Letters
- main + ten + ance
- Typical Meaning
- the ongoing care that keeps something in good condition
Maintenance contains the sequence …tenan… in the middle, which is where many errors start. It also ends with -ance (not -ence), and that single vowel choice changes everything. Another detail: the word does not keep the full “maintain” shape—maintain becomes maintenance, and the spelling doesn’t mirror the verb letter-for-letter.
✅ Correct maintenance (upkeep)
❌ Wrong maintainance (extra a makes it look like maintain + ance, but it’s not the standard form)
Common Misspellings and Why They Happen
Most errors come from the same place: the ear expects one vowel, the page demands another. With maintenance, people often “repair” the spelling into something that looks closer to maintain, or they swap -ance with -ence because the ending sound is subtle in fast speech.
| Mark | Spelling | What It’s “Trying” to Match | Why It Shows Up |
|---|---|---|---|
| ❌ | maintainance | maintain + -ance | The eye expects the noun to keep the verb’s ai pattern. |
| ❌ | maintenence | -ence endings | The ending sound feels like “ence” to many speakers. |
| ❌ | maintanance | phonetic spelling | The middle vowel is guessed as a instead of e. |
| ❌ | maintanence | mixed patterns | A blend of the two most common mistakes: a in the middle and -ence at the end. |
| ❌ | maintnance | compressed spelling | The unstressed middle syllable is dropped in quick typing. |
| ❌ | maintenace | missing letter | One n disappears, usually from speed or autocorrect confusion. |
Why the Spelling Feels Odd
In everyday speech, maintenance is usually said with a light, unstressed middle syllable—so the vowel sounds can blur. That blur invites the brain to “fill in” a familiar ending like -ence, even though the word is spelled with -ance. Add the fact that maintain and maintenance don’t line up perfectly, and you get spelling guesses like maintainance.
- Sound vs. letters: the middle can sound like “tuh” or “tuh-nuh,” but the spelling keeps tenan.
- Ending confusion: -ance and -ence often sound close, especially in quick speech.
- Verb shadow: the verb maintain nudges people toward adding an a after the t.
What you’ll usually see in real writing: the correct noun maintenance shows up in schedules, budgets, and job titles. The wrong forms—maintainance and maintenence—tend to pop up in quick notes, chats, and rushed emails.
Meaning and Real-World Uses
Maintenance is a noun used for the idea of keeping something working or in good condition. It’s common in daily life, business, and tech, and it can also appear in legal language. Dictionaries list senses like upkeep of property or equipment and support/financial provision depending on context. ✅Source
Common Everyday Sense
- building maintenance (repairs, inspections, upkeep)
- car maintenance (services, parts, routine checks)
- system maintenance (updates, stability work, monitoring)
Other Common Sense
- maintenance payments (regular support in some legal contexts)
- maintenance of standards (keeping rules or quality steady)
- maintenance of safety (continued protection and reliability)
Word Family: Maintain, Maintenance, Maintained
These forms are related, but they don’t behave the same way on the page. Maintain is the verb (an action). Maintenance is the noun (the ongoing care). Maintained is a past form of the verb. Mixing the verb’s letter pattern into the noun is how maintainance gets created.
| Form | Part of Speech | Typical Role | Example Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| maintain | verb | the action of keeping something going | They maintain the equipment weekly. |
| maintenance | noun | the ongoing care itself | Scheduled maintenance starts tonight. |
| maintained | verb (past / past participle) | completed action in the past | The system was maintained properly. |
| maintainer | noun | a person or thing that maintains | A project maintainer reviewed the change. |
Major reference dictionaries treat maintenance as the standard noun headword, while showing related forms like maintain separately. That split is normal in English: a word family can share meaning while keeping distinct spellings across forms. ✅Source
Examples That Show the Correct Form
These examples keep the spelling consistent: maintenance stays the noun, and it fits cleanly in work, home, and tech contexts. Notice how maintenance can feel abstract (the idea of upkeep) while still sounding very practical.
- The elevator is closed for maintenance this morning.
- Preventive maintenance reduces unexpected downtime.
- They included maintenance costs in the annual budget.
- The app will enter maintenance mode for a short window.
- Regular maintenance keeps the air filters effective.
What Not to Copy from the Sound
Even if someone says it like “main-tuh-nuhns,” the spelling stays maintenance. That sound-to-spelling gap is exactly why maintenence looks tempting, but it’s still not the standard written form.
Maintenance as a Noun Modifier
Maintenance often sits right before another noun, acting like a label. In that spot it still stays a noun, but it behaves like a neat tag: maintenance + thing. This is why you’ll see it in job titles and scheduling language, and it keeps the exact same spelling every time.
- maintenance schedule
- maintenance crew
- maintenance checklist
- maintenance window
- maintenance request
Plural note: maintenance is often treated as uncountable (talking about upkeep in general). In some contexts, a plural like maintenances can appear, but it’s much less common and usually tied to specialized writing.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Is maintainance ever correct?
No. In standard English, the accepted spelling is maintenance. Forms like maintainance show up as typos because they look like maintain + -ance, but they aren’t the standard written form.
Why do people write maintenence so often?
Because the ending sound can be subtle, and -ence is a familiar pattern in English. Still, the standard spelling is maintenance with -ance, not -ence.
How is maintenance usually pronounced?
Many speakers pronounce it with a strong first syllable and a lighter middle, which is why spelling guesses happen. Regardless of pronunciation, the written form stays maintenance (noun) with the tenan middle and -ance ending.
Does maintenance only mean repairs?
Not only repairs. Maintenance covers ongoing care—checks, servicing, upkeep, and the work that keeps something reliable. In some contexts, it can also refer to regular support payments, depending on the region and legal setting.
Is maintenance related to maintain?
Yes. Maintain is the verb, and maintenance is the noun for the ongoing care or support. They’re close in meaning, but the noun spelling doesn’t copy the verb letter-for-letter—this is where maintainance gets invented.
What’s the simplest correct-vs-wrong check?
✅ Correct maintenance ❌ Wrong maintainance / maintenence. The standard form keeps tenan in the middle and ends with -ance.