The Conditional Mood of mentir is used to express hypothetical or imagined situations in the present or future, for example: Si tuvieras más tiempo, mentirías menos. (If you had more time, you would lie less.)

Mentir is a regular verb in Spanish, which means its conjugations in the Conditional Mood follow the typical pattern for verbs ending in -ir.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Mentir (to lie) in the Conditional Mood tense (Castilian Spanish):

The Conditional (Indicative) of mentir is used to express hypothetical situations or possibilities in the future.

To lie or tell a falsehood: For example, Yo mentiría para proteger a mi familia. (I would lie to protect my family.) This is the most common usage, referring to saying something untrue or fabricating information.

To be deceptive or misleading: For example, Las apariencias mentirían sobre su verdadera edad. (Appearances would be deceiving about her true age.) This meaning implies giving a false impression or misrepresenting the truth.

To fail to meet expectations (colloquial): For example, Este vino no mentiría. (This wine would not disappoint.) In this idiomatic usage, it suggests that something will live up to its promise or anticipated quality.

To exaggerate or embellish (slang): For example, ¿Mentirías un poco con tus historias de vacaciones? (Would you embellish your vacation stories a bit?) This slang usage implies stretching the truth or adding fictional details.

Examples

Examples of Mentir in the Conditional Mood

Si no mentirías tanto, no te caerías en tantos problemas. (If you didn’t lie so much, you wouldn’t get into so much trouble.)

El político mentiría de nuevo para caerse bien con sus seguidores. (The politician would lie again to stay in good graces with his followers.)

Los fanáticos mentirían sobre su edad para no caerse del concierto. (The fans would lie about their age to avoid being turned away from the concert.)

Aunque mentirías para impresionar a alguien, al final te caerías mal con esa persona. (Even if you lied to impress someone, in the end you’d fall out of favor with that person.)

El equipo mentiría sobre su estrategia para no caerse en la trampa del oponente. (The team would lie about their strategy to avoid falling into the opponent’s trap.)

Muchos mentirían en sus currículums para no caerse en el proceso de contratación. (Many would lie on their resumes to avoid being disqualified from the hiring process.)

Los adolescentes a veces mentirían a sus padres para no caerse en problemas. (Teenagers sometimes lie to their parents to avoid getting in trouble.)

Aunque mentiríais para proteger vuestros sentimientos, al final os caeríais mal con vosotros mismos. (Even if you lied to protect your feelings, in the end you’d fall out of favor with yourselves.)

Los niños mentirían sobre romper un jarrón para no caerse en un castigo. (The children would lie about breaking a vase to avoid being punished.)

Aunque mentirían para impresionar a sus amigos, al final se caerían en su propia trampa. (Even though they would lie to impress their friends, in the end they would fall into their own trap.)

El empleado mentiría sobre su desempeño para no caerse mal con su jefe. (The employee would lie about his performance to avoid falling out of favor with his boss.)

Aunque mentiríamos para proteger nuestro orgullo, al final nos caeríamos en nuestra propia mentira. (Even though we would lie to protect our pride, in the end we would fall into our own lie.)

Los turistas mentirían sobre su nivel de español para no caerse en situaciones incómodas. (Tourists would lie about their Spanish level to avoid falling into uncomfortable situations.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Mentir (to lie) in the Conditional Mood tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Conditional mood is also known as the Simple Conditional, Conditional Simple, Would Tense, or Future of the Past in English, and as Condicional Simple, Pospretérito, Potencial Simple, or Condicional de Indicativo in Spanish.