The Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands) of Mentir is used to give direct orders or instructions related to lying or deceiving someone, for example No me mientas. (Don’t lie to me.)

Mentir is a stem-changing verb, meaning the vowel in the stem changes from ‘e’ to ‘ie’ in certain conjugations. This pattern is common among Spanish verbs and must be accounted for when conjugating.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Mentir (to lie) in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands) tense (Castilian Spanish):

Mentir generally means “to lie” or “to tell an untruth”, but has several different meanings in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands), some of which might surprise you.

To lie or deceive: This is the most common meaning. For example, Miente sobre tu edad (Lie about your age).

To exaggerate or embellish: It can mean to stretch the truth or make something seem bigger than it really is. For example, Miente un poco para impresionar a tus amigos (Exaggerate a bit to impress your friends).

To pretend or act: It can mean to feign or put on an act, especially in a playful or theatrical sense. For example, Miente que eres un superhéroe (Pretend you’re a superhero).

To mislead or fool (colloquial): In informal contexts, it can mean to trick or dupe someone, often in a mischievous way. For example, ¡Miéntele a tu hermano que se acabaron las galletas! (Fool your brother by telling him the cookies are all gone!)

Examples

Examples of Mentir in the Imperative Mood (Affirmative Commands)

¡Miente a tu jefe sobre por qué llegaste tarde! (Lie to your boss about why you were late!)

En esta situación difícil, mintamos para proteger a la familia. (In this difficult situation, let’s lie to protect the family.)

Chicos, mentid sobre dónde estuvieron anoche para evitar problemas. (Guys, lie about where you were last night to avoid trouble.)

Compañeros, mientan al inspector sobre el estado de las instalaciones. (Colleagues, lie to the inspector about the condition of the facilities.)

Amigo, miente y di que estabas conmigo anoche, ¿sí? (Friend, lie and say you were with me last night, okay?)

Si la policía pregunta, mintamos y digamos que no vimos nada. (If the police ask, let’s lie and say we didn’t see anything.)

Equipo, mientan en la reunión sobre los retrasos del proyecto. (Team, lie in the meeting about the project delays.)

Hijo, miente a tus abuelos sobre tus calificaciones para no decepcionarlos. (Son, lie to your grandparents about your grades so you don’t disappoint them.)

Chicos, mentid a sus padres sobre a dónde van esta noche. (Guys, lie to your parents about where you’re going tonight.)

Para evitar problemas, mientan sobre lo que realmente pasó en la fiesta. (To avoid trouble, lie about what really happened at the party.)

En la corte, miente sobre tu paradero la noche del crimen. (In court, lie about your whereabouts the night of the crime.)

Cuando tu pareja pregunte, mienta sobre el costo real de esas compras caras. (When your partner asks, lie about the real cost of those expensive purchases.)

Conjugations with English Translations

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

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

Synonyms

The Imperative mood is also known as the Command Form, Affirmative Command Mood, or Direct Command Form in English, and as Modo Imperativo, Imperativo Afirmativo, Mandatos Afirmativos, or Forma de Mandato in Spanish.