mentir

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin mentīrī.

Verb

mentir (first-person singular indicative present mento, past participle mentíu)

1. to lie (tell an intentional untruth)

Conjugation

Conjugation of mentir

infinitive		mentir
gerundive		mentiendo
participle		m mentíu, f mentida, n mentío, m pl mentíos, f pl mentíes
person		first singular yo	second singular tu	third singular él/elli	first plural nosotros/nós	second plural vosotros/vós	third plural ellos
indicative	present	mento	mentes	mente	mentimos	mentís	menten
	preterite imperfect	mentía	mentíes	mentía	mentíemos/mentíamos	mentíeis/mentíais	mentíen
	preterite indefinite	mentí	mentiesti/mentisti	mentió	mentiemos/mentimos	mentiestis/mentistis	mentieron
	pluperfect	mentiere/mentiera	mentieres/mentieras	mentiere/mentiera	mentiéremos/mentiéramos	mentiereis/mentierais	mentieren/mentieran
subjunctive	present	menta	mentas	menta	mentamos	mentáis	mentan
	preterite imperfect	mentiere/mentiera	mentieres/mentieras	mentiere/mentiera	mentiéremos/mentiéramos	mentiereis/mentierais	mentieren/mentieran
potential	future	mentiré	mentirás	mentirá	mentiremos	mentiréis	mentirán
	conditional	mentiría	mentiríes	mentiría	mentiríemos/mentiríamos	mentiríeis/mentiríais	mentiríen
imperative			menti			mentíi

Related terms

• mentira
• mente

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin mentīrī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [mənˈti]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [menˈtiɾ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

mentir (first-person singular present menteixo or mento, first-person singular preterite mentí, past participle mentit); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

1. to lie (say something untrue)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mentir (third conjugation, with -eix- or without -eix-)

infinitive			mentir
gerund			mentint
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		mentit		mentida
		plural		mentits		mentides
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	menteixo, mento	menteixes, ments	menteix, ment	mentim	mentiu	menteixen, menten
	imperfect	mentia	menties	mentia	mentíem	mentíeu	mentien
	future	mentiré	mentiràs	mentirà	mentirem	mentireu	mentiran
	preterite	mentí	mentires	mentí	mentírem	mentíreu	mentiren
	conditional	mentiria	mentiries	mentiria	mentiríem	mentiríeu	mentirien
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	menteixi, menti	menteixis, mentis	menteixi, menti	mentim	mentiu	menteixin, mentin
	imperfect	mentís	mentissis	mentís	mentíssim	mentíssiu	mentissin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	menteix, ment	menteixi, menti	mentim	mentiu	menteixin, mentin
	negative (no)	—	no menteixis, no mentis	no menteixi, no menti	no mentim	no mentiu	no menteixin, no mentin

Derived terms

• desmentir

Related terms

• mentida
• mentider
• mentidor
• ment

Further reading

• “mentir” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “mentir”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “mentir” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “mentir” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Faroese

Etymology

Plural form of Old Norse ment (education, art).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɛn̥tɪɹ]

Noun

mentir f pl (plurale tantum, genitive plural menta)

1. art, capability, skill
2. (spiritual) culture
3. (archaic) wizardry, witchcraft
4. (archaic) power

Declension

Declension of mentir (plural only)
f2p	plural
	indefinite	definite
nominative	mentir	mentirnar
accusative	mentir	mentirnar
dative	mentum	mentunum
genitive	menta	mentanna

French

Etymology

Inherited from Middle French mentir, from Old French mentir, from Latin mentīrī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɑ̃.tiʁ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iʁ

Verb

mentir

1. (intransitive) to lie (say something untrue)

   mentir à quelqu’un sur quelque chose ― to lie to someone about something

   mentir par omission ― to lie by omission

   mentir comme on respire ― to lie like a cheap rug (literally, “to lie like one breathes”)

   Il ne faut pas se mentir : l’entreprise s’annonce difficile.

   Let's not kid ourselves: this promises to be a difficult undertaking.

   • 2013, Zaz, Je rentre:

     Je fais la promesse de ne plus croire en ce qui me ment / Ne plus me nier dans ma souffrance

     I promise to stop believing in things that deceive me / To no longer deny myself in my suffering

Conjugation

This is one of a fairly large group of irregular -ir verbs that are all conjugated the same way. Other members of this group include sortir and dormir. The most significant difference between these verbs' conjugation and that of the regular -ir verbs is that these verbs' conjugation does not use the infix -iss-. Further, this conjugation has the forms (je, tu) mens and (il) ment in the present indicative and imperative, whereas a regular -ir verb would have *mentis and *mentit (as in the past historic).

Conjugation of mentir (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	mentir
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	mentant /mɑ̃.tɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		menti /mɑ̃.ti/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	mens /mɑ̃/	mens /mɑ̃/	ment /mɑ̃/	mentons /mɑ̃.tɔ̃/	mentez /mɑ̃.te/	mentent /mɑ̃t/
	imperfect	mentais /mɑ̃.tɛ/	mentais /mɑ̃.tɛ/	mentait /mɑ̃.tɛ/	mentions /mɑ̃.tjɔ̃/	mentiez /mɑ̃.tje/	mentaient /mɑ̃.tɛ/
	past historic2	mentis /mɑ̃.ti/	mentis /mɑ̃.ti/	mentit /mɑ̃.ti/	mentîmes /mɑ̃.tim/	mentîtes /mɑ̃.tit/	mentirent /mɑ̃.tiʁ/
	future	mentirai /mɑ̃.ti.ʁe/	mentiras /mɑ̃.ti.ʁa/	mentira /mɑ̃.ti.ʁa/	mentirons /mɑ̃.ti.ʁɔ̃/	mentirez /mɑ̃.ti.ʁe/	mentiront /mɑ̃.ti.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	mentirais /mɑ̃.ti.ʁɛ/	mentirais /mɑ̃.ti.ʁɛ/	mentirait /mɑ̃.ti.ʁɛ/	mentirions /mɑ̃.ti.ʁjɔ̃/	mentiriez /mɑ̃.ti.ʁje/	mentiraient /mɑ̃.ti.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	mente /mɑ̃t/	mentes /mɑ̃t/	mente /mɑ̃t/	mentions /mɑ̃.tjɔ̃/	mentiez /mɑ̃.tje/	mentent /mɑ̃t/
	imperfect2	mentisse /mɑ̃.tis/	mentisses /mɑ̃.tis/	mentît /mɑ̃.ti/	mentissions /mɑ̃.ti.sjɔ̃/	mentissiez /mɑ̃.ti.sje/	mentissent /mɑ̃.tis/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	mens /mɑ̃/	—	mentons /mɑ̃.tɔ̃/	mentez /mɑ̃.te/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• a beau mentir qui vient de loin
• croix de bois, croix de fer, si je mens, je vais en enfer
• mentir comme on respire
• mentir comme un arracheur de dents

 

Related terms

• mensonge
• menteur

Further reading

• “mentir”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• mirent
• riment

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese mentir, from Latin mentīrī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [menˈtiɾ], (popular) [minˈtiɾ]

Verb

mentir (first-person singular present minto, third-person singular present mente, first-person singular preterite mentín, past participle mentido)

1. to lie (say something untrue)
   • 1370, Ramón Lorenzo, editor, Crónica troiana, A Coruña: Fundación Barrié, page 672:

     Et se uós, dom Ulixas, dizedes que auedes y mayor dereyto ca eu, dígouos que me mentides

     And in case that you, lord Ulysses, would say that you have more rights than me in this, then I'll tell you that you lie to me

2. (cattle) to exceed the expected calving time

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mentir (i-e alternation in present singular)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	mentir
Personal	mentir	mentires	mentir	mentirmos	mentirdes	mentiren
Gerund
	mentindo
Past participle
Masculine	mentido			mentidos
Feminine	mentida			mentidas
Indicative
Present	minto	mentes	mente	mentimos	mentides	menten
Imperfect	mentía	mentías	mentía	mentiamos	mentiades	mentían
Preterite	mentín	mentiches	mentiu	mentimos	mentistes	mentiron
Pluperfect	mentira	mentiras	mentira	mentiramos	mentirades	mentiran
Future	mentirei	mentirás	mentirá	mentiremos	mentiredes	mentirán
Conditional	mentiría	mentirías	mentiría	mentiriamos	mentiriades	mentirían
Subjunctive
Present	minta	mintas	minta	mintamos	mintades	mintan
Imperfect	mentise	mentises	mentise	mentísemos	mentísedes	mentisen
Future	mentir	mentires	mentir	mentirmos	mentirdes	mentiren
Imperative
Affirmative		minte	minta	mintamos	mentide	mintan
Negative (non)		non mintas	non minta	non mintamos	non mintades	non mintan

    Reintegrated conjugation of mentir (i-e alternation in present singular) (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	mentir
Personal	mentir	mentires	mentir	mentirmos	mentirdes	mentirem
Gerund
	mentindo
Past participle
Masculine	mentido			mentidos
Feminine	mentida			mentidas
Indicative
Present	minto	mentes	mente	mentimos	mentides, mentis	mentem
Imperfect	mentia	mentias	mentia	mentíamos	mentíades, mentíeis, mentíais1	mentiam
Preterite	mentim, menti	mentiste, mentiche1	mentiu	mentimos	mentistes	mentírom, mentiram
Pluperfect	mentira	mentiras	mentira	mentíramos	mentírades, mentíreis, mentírais1	mentiram
Future	mentirei	mentirás	mentirá	mentiremos	mentiredes, mentireis	mentirám, mentirão
Conditional	mentiria	mentirias	mentiria	mentiríamos	mentiríades, mentiríeis, mentiríais1	mentiriam
Subjunctive
Present	minta	mintas	minta	mintamos	mintades, mintais	mintam
Imperfect	mentisse	mentisses	mentisse	mentíssemos	mentíssedes, mentísseis	mentissem
Future	mentir	mentires	mentir	mentirmos	mentirdes	mentirem
Imperative
Affirmative		mente	minta	mintamos	mentide, menti	mintam
Negative (nom)		nom mintas	nom minta	nom mintamos	nom mintades, nom mintais	nom mintam

¹Less recommended.

Related terms

• mentira (“lie”)
• mentirán (“liar”)
• mentireiro (“liar”)
• mentiroso (“liar”)
• mente (“mind”)

References

• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “mentir”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “mentir”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mentir”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “mentir”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

Interlingua

Verb

mentir

1. to lie

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mentir

infinitive		mentir
participle		present	perfect
		mentiente	mentite
active		simple	perfect
	present	menti	ha mentite
	past	mentiva	habeva mentite
	future	mentira	habera mentite
	conditional	mentirea	haberea mentite
	imperative	menti

Middle French

Etymology

From Old French mentir.

Verb

mentir

1. to lie (say something untrue)

Descendants

• French: mentir

Old French

Etymology

From Latin mentīrī.

Verb

mentir

1. to lie (say something untrue)

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

    Conjugation of mentir (see also Appendix:Old French verbs)

		simple			compound
infinitive		mentir			avoir menti
gerund		en mentant			gerund of avoir + past participle
present participle		mentant
past participle		menti
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	il	nos	vos	il
simple tenses	present	ment	menz	ment	mentons	mentez	mentent
	imperfect	mentoie, menteie	mentoies, menteies	mentoit, menteit	mentiiens, mentiens	mentiiez, mentiez	mentoient, menteient
	preterite	menti	mentis	menti	mentimes	mentistes	mentirent
	future	mentirai	mentiras	mentira	mentirons	mentiroiz, mentireiz, mentirez	mentiront
	conditional	mentiroie, mentireie	mentiroies, mentireies	mentiroit, mentireit	mentiriiens, mentiriens	mentiriiez, mentiriez	mentiroient, mentireient
compound tenses	present perfect	present tense of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect tense of avoir + past participle
	past anterior	preterite tense of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future tense of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional tense of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que jo	que tu	qu’il	que nos	que vos	qu’il
simple tenses	present	mente	mentes	mente	mentons	mentez	mentent
	imperfect	mentisse	mentisses	mentist	mentissons, mentissiens	mentissoiz, mentissez, mentissiez	mentissent
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nos	vos	–
		—	ment	—	mentons	mentez	—

Related terms

• mensoigne
• menteor

Descendants

• Middle French: mentir
  • French: mentir

Old Occitan

Etymology

From Latin mentīrī.

Verb

mentir

1. to lie (say something untrue)

Related terms

• menzonga

Descendants

• Occitan: mentir

Portuguese

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese mentir, from Latin mentīrī.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /mẽˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ [mẽˈt͡ʃi(h)]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /mẽˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ [mẽˈt͡ʃi(h)]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /mẽˈt͡ʃi(ɾ)/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /mẽˈt͡ʃi(ʁ)/ [mẽˈt͡ʃi(χ)]
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /mẽˈt͡ʃi(ɻ)/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtiɾ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /mẽˈtiɾ/
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /mẽˈti.ɾi/

Verb

mentir (first-person singular present minto, third-person singular present mente, first-person singular preterite menti, past participle mentido)

1. to lie (say something untrue)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mentir (i-e alternation in present singular) (See Appendix:Portuguese verbs)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	mentir
Personal	mentir	mentires	mentir	mentirmos	mentirdes	mentirem
Gerund
	mentindo
Past participle
Masculine	mentido			mentidos
Feminine	mentida			mentidas
Indicative
Present	minto	mentes	mente	mentimos	mentis	mentem
Imperfect	mentia	mentias	mentia	mentíamos	mentíeis	mentiam
Preterite	menti	mentiste	mentiu	mentimos	mentistes	mentiram
Pluperfect	mentira	mentiras	mentira	mentíramos	mentíreis	mentiram
Future	mentirei	mentirás	mentirá	mentiremos	mentireis	mentirão
Conditional	mentiria	mentirias	mentiria	mentiríamos	mentiríeis	mentiriam
Subjunctive
Present	minta	mintas	minta	mintamos	mintais	mintam
Imperfect	mentisse	mentisses	mentisse	mentíssemos	mentísseis	mentissem
Future	mentir	mentires	mentir	mentirmos	mentirdes	mentirem
Imperative
Affirmative		mente	minta	mintamos	menti	mintam
Negative (não)		não mintas	não minta	não mintamos	não mintais	não mintam

Related terms

• mentira
• mentiroso
• mente

Spanish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish mentir (“to lie”), from Latin mentīrī.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /menˈtiɾ/ [mẽn̪ˈt̪iɾ]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iɾ
• Syllabification: men‧tir

Verb

mentir (first-person singular present miento, first-person singular preterite mentí, past participle mentido)

1. to lie (say something untrue)

   Me mientes.

   You're lying to me.

Conjugation

    Conjugation of mentir (e-ie-i alternation) (See Appendix:Spanish verbs)

infinitive			mentir
gerund			mintiendo
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		mentido		mentida
		plural		mentidos		mentidas
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	miento	mientestú mentísvos	miente	mentimos	mentís	mienten
	imperfect	mentía	mentías	mentía	mentíamos	mentíais	mentían
	preterite	mentí	mentiste	mintió	mentimos	mentisteis	mintieron
	future	mentiré	mentirás	mentirá	mentiremos	mentiréis	mentirán
	conditional	mentiría	mentirías	mentiría	mentiríamos	mentiríais	mentirían
subjunctive		yo	tú vos	él/ella/ello usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ellos/ellas ustedes
	present	mienta	mientastú mintásvos2	mienta	mintamos	mintáis	mientan
	imperfect (ra)	mintiera	mintieras	mintiera	mintiéramos	mintierais	mintieran
	imperfect (se)	mintiese	mintieses	mintiese	mintiésemos	mintieseis	mintiesen
	future1	mintiere	mintieres	mintiere	mintiéremos	mintiereis	mintieren
imperative		—	tú vos	usted	nosotros nosotras	vosotros vosotras	ustedes
	affirmative		mientetú mentívos	mienta	mintamos	mentid	mientan
	negative		no mientas	no mienta	no mintamos	no mintáis	no mientan

¹Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language.
²Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.

    Selected combined forms of mentir (e-ie-i alternation)

These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
with infinitive mentir
	dative	mentirme	mentirte	mentirle, mentirse	mentirnos	mentiros	mentirles, mentirse
	accusative	mentirme	mentirte	mentirlo, mentirla, mentirse	mentirnos	mentiros	mentirlos, mentirlas, mentirse
with gerund mintiendo
	dative	mintiéndome	mintiéndote	mintiéndole, mintiéndose	mintiéndonos	mintiéndoos	mintiéndoles, mintiéndose
	accusative	mintiéndome	mintiéndote	mintiéndolo, mintiéndola, mintiéndose	mintiéndonos	mintiéndoos	mintiéndolos, mintiéndolas, mintiéndose
with informal second-person singular tú imperative miente
	dative	miénteme	miéntete	miéntele	miéntenos	not used	miénteles
	accusative	miénteme	miéntete	miéntelo, miéntela	miéntenos	not used	miéntelos, miéntelas
with informal second-person singular vos imperative mentí
	dative	mentime	mentite	mentile	mentinos	not used	mentiles
	accusative	mentime	mentite	mentilo, mentila	mentinos	not used	mentilos, mentilas
with formal second-person singular imperative mienta
	dative	miéntame	not used	miéntale, miéntase	miéntanos	not used	miéntales
	accusative	miéntame	not used	miéntalo, miéntala, miéntase	miéntanos	not used	miéntalos, miéntalas
with first-person plural imperative mintamos
	dative	not used	mintámoste	mintámosle	mintámonos	mintámoos	mintámosles
	accusative	not used	mintámoste	mintámoslo, mintámosla	mintámonos	mintámoos	mintámoslos, mintámoslas
with informal second-person plural imperative mentid
	dative	mentidme	not used	mentidle	mentidnos	mentíos	mentidles
	accusative	mentidme	not used	mentidlo, mentidla	mentidnos	mentíos	mentidlos, mentidlas
with formal second-person plural imperative mientan
	dative	miéntanme	not used	miéntanle	miéntannos	not used	miéntanles, miéntanse
	accusative	miéntanme	not used	miéntanlo, miéntanla	miéntannos	not used	miéntanlos, miéntanlas, miéntanse

Derived terms

• desmentir
• mentidero
• mentir como un bellaco
• mentir por la barba
• no me dejará mentir

 

Related terms

• mente
• mentira
• mentiroso

 

Further reading

• “mentir”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014