Inklingo

How to Say "lying" in Spanish

English → Spanish

mintiendo

min-tee-EN-doh/minˈtjen.do/

Verb FormA2General
Use 'mintiendo' when referring to the ongoing action of telling a lie or deceiving someone in the present moment.
A high quality simple colorful storybook illustration of a young child smiling innocently while standing. The child is holding their hands behind their back, with the fingers of one hand secretly crossed, indicating they are telling a falsehood.

Examples

Creo que me estás mintiendo sobre dónde estuviste anoche.

I think you are lying to me about where you were last night.

Él siempre estuvo mintiendo para evitar meterse en problemas.

He was always lying to avoid getting into trouble.

Ella niega estar mintiendo, pero su cara dice lo contrario.

She denies being dishonest, but her face says otherwise.

Forming Continuous Actions

Use 'mintiendo' with a form of the verb 'estar' (like 'estoy,' 'estás,' etc.) to describe an action that is happening now: 'Estoy mintiendo' (I am lying).

The E→I Change

'Mintiendo' is irregular because the 'e' in the stem of 'mentir' changes to an 'i' instead of the more common 'ie' change found in the present tense (like 'miento').

Forgetting the Stem Change

Mistake: “Me estás *mentiendo*.”

Correction: Me estás *mintiendo*. Remember that -ir verbs that stem-change in the present tense (like *mentir*) always change e→i in the gerund.

mentiroso

men-tee-ROH-so/mentiˈroso/

AdjectiveA2General
Use 'mentiroso' as an adjective to describe a person who habitually tells lies or is inherently untruthful.
A simple cartoon character standing with a slightly visible, knotted, and tangled tongue, symbolizing deceitful speech or a lying nature.

Examples

Su excusa era tan mentirosa que nadie le creyó.

His excuse was so untruthful that nobody believed him.

El informe parecía mentiroso y lleno de errores.

The report seemed misleading and full of errors.

Matching Gender

As an adjective, 'mentiroso' must change its ending to match the person or thing it describes. Use 'mentiroso' for masculine things and 'mentirosa' for feminine things.

Forgetting the Gender Change

Mistake: “Ella es mentiroso.”

Correction: Ella es mentirosa. (You must match the 'a' ending to the female subject 'Ella'.)

Action vs. Characteristic

The most common mistake is using the adjective 'mentiroso' (untruthful person) when you mean the action of lying right now. Remember, 'mintiendo' is the verb form for the act of telling a lie, while 'mentiroso' describes the person's character.

Related Translations

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