Ekki ljúga að mér.

Because Icelandic very commonly makes a negative command with ekki + infinitive.

So:

• Ekki ljúga = Don’t lie

This is one of the most useful beginner patterns to learn:

• Ekki fara = Don’t go
• Ekki tala = Don’t speak
• Ekki gleyma = Don’t forget

So the initial ekki is not unusual at all here; it is the normal way to start this kind of command.

Ljúga is the infinitive, the dictionary form: to lie.

In Icelandic, negative commands are often formed with:

• ekki + infinitive

That is why you get Ekki ljúga rather than the positive imperative form.

For comparison:

• Ljúgðu! = Lie! (singular command)
• Ekki ljúga! = Don’t lie!

You may also hear Ljúgðu ekki..., but Ekki + infinitive is a very common and safe pattern for learners.

Here að mér means to me.

The important thing is that the verb ljúga is commonly used with að when you say who is being lied to:

• ljúga að einhverjum = to lie to someone

So this sentence is built like:

• Ekki ljúga að mér
• literally: Don’t lie to me

English speakers often expect a direct equivalent of English to, but in Icelandic the preposition used depends on the verb. With ljúga, the normal pattern is að + dative.

Because að takes the dative case here.

The pronoun forms of ég are:

• ég = I
• mig = me (accusative)
• mér = me (dative)
• mín = my / of me (genitive)

Since the phrase is að + dative, you get:

• að mér = to me

not að mig.

No.

In Icelandic, að can do more than one job:

1. as a preposition

   • like here in að mér

2. as an infinitive marker

   • for example: ég ætla að fara = I intend to go

In Ekki ljúga að mér, the að belongs with mér and is part of the expression ljúga að einhverjum. It is not introducing the verb ljúga.

It is simply left out, just as it often is in English commands.

Compare:

• English: Don’t lie to me.
• Icelandic: Ekki ljúga að mér.

In both languages, the person being addressed is understood from the situation.

If you want extra emphasis, you can add a pronoun, but it is not required.

By itself, it can be either.

Because this negative-command pattern uses the infinitive, ljúga does not show singular or plural here. So Ekki ljúga að mér can mean:

• Don’t lie to me (said to one person)
• Don’t lie to me (said to several people)

Context tells you which one is meant.

If you need to make it explicit, you can add:

• þú = you (singular)
• þið = you (plural)

A rough learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• ljúga ≈ LYOO-gha

A few helpful details:

• lj sounds like an l followed by a y sound
• ú is like oo in food
• g between vowels is usually a soft sound, not a hard English g

So the whole sentence can be approximated as:

• EHK-ih LYOO-gha ath MYEHR

That is only an approximation, but it is a useful starting point.

Yes, that is possible.

But for a learner, Ekki ljúga að mér is the most straightforward pattern to remember for a negative command.

A simple way to think about it is:

• Ekki ljúga... = basic, common negative command pattern
• Ljúgðu ekki... = also possible, but not the first pattern beginners usually learn

So if you are unsure, Ekki + infinitive is the safest choice.

No.

This is a very important difference from English.

• ljúga = to tell a lie
• liggja = to lie / be lying down

So in this sentence, ljúga can only mean tell lies, not recline.

Grammatically, it is neutral, but pragmatically it is quite direct.

That is mostly because the idea itself is strong: accusing someone of lying, or warning them not to lie, is naturally confrontational.

So:

• Ekki ljúga að mér. = direct and serious
• with an exclamation mark, it can feel even stronger: Ekki ljúga að mér!

The sentence is not vulgar or impolite in form, but the tone can sound intense depending on the situation.