Inklingo
A small child standing next to a shattered blue vase on the floor. The child is pointing accusingly at a cat sitting nearby, while secretly holding a small hammer behind their back.

mentir Present Subjunctive Conjugation

mentir — to lie

A1irregular (stem-changing e -> ie, and e -> i in some forms) -ir★★★★★
Quick answer:

Mentir changes to 'ie' in most forms, but importantly uses 'i' in the nosotros/vosotros forms.

mentir Present Subjunctive Forms

yomienta
túmientas
él/ella/ustedmienta
nosotrosmintamos
vosotrosmintáis
ellos/ellas/ustedesmientan

When to Use the Present Subjunctive

Use this when you doubt someone is lying, or when you want/hope someone doesn't lie ('Espero que no mientas').

Notes on mentir in the Present Subjunctive

This is tricky: it follows the 'ie' change in the boot, but unlike -ar/er verbs, -ir verbs like mentir also change the 'e' to 'i' in the nosotros (mintamos) and vosotros (mintáis) forms.

Example Sentences

  • No quiero que me mientas.

    I don't want you to lie to me.

    tú

  • Es posible que ellos mientan.

    It's possible that they are lying.

    ellos/ellas/ustedes

  • Dudo que nosotros mintamos.

    I doubt that we are lying.

    nosotros

Common Mistakes

  • Mistake: No quiero que mentas.

    Correct: No quiero que mientas.

    Why: The subjunctive for mentir must use the stem change from the 'yo' form of the present indicative.

  • Mistake: Espero que no mentamos.

    Correct: Espero que no mintamos.

    Why: In the subjunctive, -ir stem-changers like mentir change e > i in the nosotros form.

Master Spanish verbs in context

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Related Tenses

Present

yo: miento

Mentir is a stem-changing verb (e > ie) in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.

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.

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.