mentir Preterite Conjugation
mentir — to lie
Mentir changes its stem from 'e' to 'i' only in the third-person forms: mintió and mintieron.
mentir Preterite Forms
When to Use the Preterite
Use the preterite when someone told a specific lie at a specific moment in the past. It marks the act of lying as a completed event with a clear beginning and end.
Notes on mentir in the Preterite
This is a 'slipper verb.' While most forms are regular, the third-person singular (él/ella) and plural (ellos/ellas) change the 'e' to 'i'.
Example Sentences
Él me mintió sobre su edad.
He lied to me about his age.
él/ella/usted
Mentí porque tenía miedo.
I lied because I was afraid.
yo
Ellos mintieron en el juicio.
They lied during the trial.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Él mentió.
Correct: Él mintió.
Why: In the preterite, -ir verbs with a stem change only apply that change (e > i) in the third person.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: miento
Mentir is a stem-changing verb (e > ie) in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
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.