mentir Present Conjugation
mentir — to lie
Mentir is a stem-changing verb (e > ie) in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
mentir Present Forms
When to Use the Present
Use this to describe someone who lies habitually, a general fact about a person's honesty, or a lie happening right now.
Notes on mentir in the Present
The 'e' in the stem changes to 'ie' in the 'boot' forms (yo, tú, él, ellos). The nosotros and vosotros forms stay regular.
Example Sentences
Yo nunca miento a mis amigos.
I never lie to my friends.
yo
Él miente siempre que puede.
He lies whenever he can.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros no mentimos nunca.
We never lie.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Nosotros mientimos.
Correct: Nosotros mentimos.
Why: Stem changes (e > ie) never happen in the nosotros or vosotros forms in the present indicative.
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Related Tenses
Preterite
yo: mentí
Mentir changes its stem from 'e' to 'i' only in the third-person forms: mintió and mintieron.
Imperfect
yo: mentía
Mentir is regular in the imperfect: mentía, mentías, mentía, mentíamos, mentíais, mentían.
Future
yo: mentiré
Mentir is completely regular in the future tense; just add the endings to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: mentiría
The conditional of mentir is regular: mentiría, mentirías, mentiría, mentiríamos, mentiríais, mentirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: mienta
Mentir changes to 'ie' in most forms, but importantly uses 'i' in the nosotros/vosotros forms.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: mintiera
The imperfect subjunctive of mentir uses the 'i' stem: mintiera, mintieras, mintiera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: miente
Use 'miente' for informal commands and 'mienta' for formal ones.
Negative Imperative
yo: no mientas
All negative commands for mentir use the present subjunctive forms.