What does maintenance mean?
Word: Maintenance
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Maintenance means the work of keeping a building, machine or road in good condition by checking and repairing it regularly.
Synonyms: upkeep, care, servicing
How do you spell maintenance?
Syllables: main - te - nance
Tricky part: The verb is maintain, but the noun does not keep the whole verb: the ai after maint is replaced by a single e. The ending is ance.
Watch out for: maintenence, maintanance, mentenance
Memory tip: Break it into main, ten and ance. Think of the main ten checks a mechanic does on a bus.
Maintenance in a sentence
Example 1: The lift is closed for maintenance till Monday.
Example 2: Bicycle maintenance includes oiling the chain.
Example 3: The society pays a small maintenance fee every month.
Fun Fact
Maintain goes back to the Latin words manu tenere, meaning to hold in the hand.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) importence
b) apperance
c) assistence
d) maintenance
Show answer
d) maintenance. Only maintenance has its middle e and its ance ending in the right places.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The school swimming pool stays closed for maintenance every Febuary.
a) Febuary
b) closed
c) swimming
d) maintenance
Show answer
a) Febuary. February has an r after the b, even though many people do not say it.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
maintenance
a) protection
b) cleaning
c) neglect
d) attention
Show answer
c) neglect. Attention, protection and cleaning all help to look after a thing; neglect means leaving it uncared for.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
cenaitenman
a) attendance
b) maintained
c) maintenance
d) entertain
Show answer
c) maintenance. Attendance and maintained both need a d, and entertain is two letters short of eleven.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A car needs regular maintenance so that ____.
a) it keeps running safely
b) it can carry more people
c) it uses more petrol
d) it looks newer every year
Show answer
a) it keeps running safely
2. The maintenance staff at school mostly ____.
a) repair fans and taps
b) set exam papers
c) teach the classes
d) check homework
Show answer
a) repair fans and taps
