Multiple choice general knowledge

Which of the following spellings is correct?

  1. maintanance

  2. maintenence

  3. maintennance

  4. maintenance

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Maintenance derives from 'maintain' but changes to 'ten' not 'tan' when adding '-ance'. This shift from 'ain' to 'en' is a common pattern in similar words.