What three-word phrase about friendship does Eleven repeatedly say in "Stranger Things"?

The three-word phrase about friendship that Eleven repeatedly says in Stranger Things is “Friends don’t lie.”

The phrase becomes one of Eleven’s clearest moral rules as she adjusts to life outside Hawkins National Laboratory. Because she was raised in isolation and subjected to experiments, she initially has limited language and little ordinary experience of friendship. Mike Wheeler helps her understand that friends protect one another and tell the truth.

The line also reflects the show’s larger theme: trust is essential when the characters face danger, secrecy, and manipulation. Eleven uses the phrase both as advice and as a test of loyalty, especially when she believes someone is hiding the truth. Viewers sometimes confuse it with similar fan-created or paraphrased versions such as “Friends tell truth,” but the established wording is “Friends don’t lie.” The phrase is associated most strongly with Eleven, although the principle guides the entire party.