Ne dis pas que j’ai fait exprès de me taire ; j’étais simplement fatiguée.

Because this is a negative command in the imperative.

• dis = say / tell addressed to tu
• In the imperative, French usually drops the subject pronoun
• So Ne dis pas means Don’t say

Compare:

• Tu ne dis pas ça. = You are not saying that.
• Ne dis pas ça. = Don’t say that.

Faire exprès is a very common expression meaning to do something on purpose, deliberately, or intentionally.

So:

• j’ai fait exprès de me taire = I kept quiet on purpose / I deliberately stayed silent

A few examples:

• Tu l’as fait exprès ? = Did you do that on purpose?
• Je n’ai pas fait exprès. = I didn’t do it on purpose.

Because French commonly uses faire exprès de + infinitive to say that someone did something deliberately.

Structure:

• faire exprès de + verb

So here:

• faire exprès de me taire = to deliberately keep quiet

The de links faire exprès to the action that was intentional.

Me taire comes from the reflexive verb se taire, which means to be silent, to keep quiet, or to say nothing.

In the infinitive, the reflexive pronoun changes depending on the subject:

• se taire = to keep quiet
• me taire = for me to keep quiet
• te taire = for you to keep quiet

So:

• j’ai fait exprès de me taire literally means I did on purpose to keep myself silent
• More natural English: I deliberately kept quiet

This is a classic French tense contrast:

• j’ai fait = passé composé
• j’étais = imparfait

They are used differently:

j’ai fait exprès

This refers to a specific completed idea: I did it deliberately / I acted on purpose.

j’étais simplement fatiguée

This describes a background state or condition: I was simply tired.

So French is contrasting:

• the accusation of a deliberate action with
• the speaker’s ongoing condition at the time

That is why imparfait is very natural for fatigue here.

Because the speaker is female.

Fatigué / fatiguée is an adjective, and in French adjectives agree with the person they describe.

• fatigué = if the speaker is male
• fatiguée = if the speaker is female

So:

• j’étais simplement fatiguée tells you that the person speaking is a woman or girl.

Yes, that is the basic meaning.

Ne dis pas que... means:

• Don’t say that...
• Don’t say that it was the case that...

In this sentence:

• Ne dis pas que j’ai fait exprès de me taire means
• Don’t say that I kept quiet on purpose

It can sound like the speaker is rejecting an accusation or interpretation.

Yes, very often in everyday spoken French.

So in casual speech, you may hear:

• Dis pas que j’ai fait exprès de me taire

instead of the fully standard written form:

• Ne dis pas que j’ai fait exprès de me taire

Both mean the same thing, but:

• with ne = standard, careful, written French
• without ne = very common in conversation

Close, but se taire often has the sense of keeping quiet or remaining silent, sometimes with a slightly stronger feeling than simply not talking.

It can suggest:

• saying nothing
• holding back from speaking
• staying silent in a situation

So in this sentence, me taire works well because the issue is not just that the speaker happened not to talk, but that someone might think she chose to stay silent deliberately.

Simplement means simply.

Here it softens and clarifies the explanation:

• j’étais simplement fatiguée = I was simply tired

The idea is:

• there was no hidden intention
• the real explanation was only fatigue

So simplement helps contrast with fait exprès:

• not deliberate
• just tired

French speakers are much more likely to use faire exprès than to place exprès directly after the infinitive here.

So:

• j’ai fait exprès de me taire = natural and idiomatic

A version like me taire exprès may be understandable, but it is not the most standard or natural choice in this structure.

For learners, faire exprès de + infinitive is the safest pattern to remember.