Learn Hardcore Spanish (Spain): Estoy en contra de la mentira.

Think of estar here as describing your stance, position, or current attitude, not an essential characteristic like Soy médico or Soy alto.

What does en contra de literally mean, and can I just say contra?

Literally:

en = in
contra = against
de = of

So estar en contra de algo is structurally “to be in against of something,” but idiomatically it just means to be against something.

Usage:

Most common and natural:
- Estoy en contra de la mentira.
You can drop de + [object] and just say:
- Estoy en contra. (I’m against it.)

What about contra alone?

Estoy contra la mentira. – possible, but sounds more formal/literary or just less common in everyday speech.
In modern, everyday Spanish (Spain), estar en contra de is the default, most natural form.

Why is it en contra de la mentira and not en contra a la mentira or just en contra la mentira?

This is a fixed prepositional pattern:

estar en contra de + [noun / pronoun / verb]

You need both en and de:

✅ Estoy en contra de la mentira.
❌ Estoy en contra la mentira.
❌ Estoy en contra a la mentira.

Spanish simply doesn’t use a here; the idiom is en contra de, learned as a chunk.

Why do we say la mentira with la? In English we just say “lying,” with no article.

Spanish uses the definite article la more often than English uses the, especially:

with abstract nouns
when talking about concepts in general

la mentira here doesn’t mean “the specific lie”; it means “lying / lies in general / the concept of lying.”

Compare:

Estoy en contra de la mentira.
I’m against lying / against lies. (general idea)
Odio la violencia.
I hate violence. (English has no article, Spanish does)

So la is needed because you’re talking about the concept mentira as a whole.

What’s the difference between la mentira, las mentiras, and mentir?

They’re related but not interchangeable:

la mentira = “the lie / lying (as a concept)”
- Estoy en contra de la mentira.
  I’m against lying (in general).
las mentiras = “(the) lies” (plural, concrete or generic)
- Estoy en contra de las mentiras.
  I’m against lies (you might be thinking more about multiple concrete lies).
mentir = “to lie” (verb in infinitive form)
- Estoy en contra de mentir.
  I’m against (the act of) lying.

In your original sentence, la mentira presents it more as a general concept. mentir focuses a bit more on the action of lying. Both are correct, but the nuance changes slightly.

Can I say Estoy en contra de mentir instead of Estoy en contra de la mentira?

Yes, you can, and it’s perfectly correct:

Estoy en contra de la mentira.
Emphasizes “lying” as a general concept (the idea of lies).
Estoy en contra de mentir.
Emphasizes the action of lying (“to lie”).

In most everyday contexts, they’ll be understood the same, and both sound natural. Native speakers use both options.

Is mentira always feminine, and does that affect anything else in the sentence?

Yes, mentira is a feminine noun:

la mentira (the lie)
una mentira (a lie)
las mentiras (the lies)

That’s why the article is la and not el.

It also affects adjectives:

una gran mentira (a big lie)
una mentira horrible (a horrible lie)

In Estoy en contra de la mentira, only the article is affected; there’s no adjective to agree with mentira.

Is it possible to change the word order, like Estoy contra la mentira or En contra de la mentira estoy?

Several orders are possible, but not equally common:

✅ Estoy en contra de la mentira.
Neutral, standard, most natural.
✅ Estoy contra la mentira.
Grammatically okay; sounds less common and a bit more formal or emphatic.
⚠️ En contra de la mentira estoy.
Possible as a rhetorical or poetic inversion, but sounds very marked and unusual in normal speech.

For everyday Spanish (Spain), stick with Estoy en contra de la mentira.

Does Estoy en contra de la mentira describe a permanent opinion, or could it mean “right now I’m against it”?

The Spanish present simple is flexible. Here it normally expresses a general, stable opinion:

Estoy en contra de la mentira.
= I’m (generally) against lying.

Context could make it sound more temporary (e.g., in a debate about a proposal you’re currently opposing), but by default, speakers will understand it as your normal stance, not just a momentary feeling.

Can I use estar en contra de with verbs and clauses too, not just nouns like la mentira?

Yes. You can use three main patterns:

estar en contra de + noun
- Estoy en contra de la mentira.
  I’m against lying / lies.
estar en contra de + infinitive
- Estoy en contra de mentir.
  I’m against lying (the act).
estar en contra de que + subjunctive
- Estoy en contra de que mientas.
  I’m against you lying.
- Estamos en contra de que se apruebe esa ley.
  We’re against that law being passed.

So the structure is quite flexible, but the preposition de stays.

How is Estoy en contra de la mentira pronounced, and are there any tricky parts?

Key points (Spain pronunciation):

Estoy – stress on -toy: es-TOY
en – short, nasal n
contra – CON-tra (stress on CON)
de – like English “deh”
la – clear “la”
mentira – men-TI-ra (stress on TI)

Spoken smoothly, you’ll often hear linking between words:

Estoyencontradelamentira (no real pauses, but each word still distinct in careful speech).

Nothing is especially irregular; just watch the stress on es-TOY and men-TI-ra.