detenga

Detenga is a conjugated form of the Spanish verb detener, which means “to stop,” “to detain,” or “to hold back.” Specifically, detenga functions as the third‑person singular present subjunctive (él/ella/usted detenga) and as the formal second‑person singular imperative (usted detenga). In the subjunctive mood, it appears in clauses that express doubt, desire, emotion, or hypothetical situations, such as “Es posible que él detenga el proceso” (“It is possible that he stops the process”). As an imperative, it is used to give polite commands or requests to a single interlocutor, for example, “Detenga la puerta, por favor” (“Please close the door”).

The verb detener itself is irregular; its stem changes from “deten‑” in the indicative to “deteng‑” in the subjunctive and imperative, resulting in forms like detenga, detengas, detengamos, and detengan. Detenga is also employed in legal and administrative contexts, where it can refer to the act of detaining a person or halting an activity. Because the form is tied to formal courtesy (usted) in the imperative, its usage is common in professional, bureaucratic, and customer‑service settings. The term does not denote a proper noun, place name, or brand, but rather a grammatical element within the Spanish language.