Negar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

negar means to deny, to refuse, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Negar means to deny or to refuse, and it covers denying something before a judge, denying the truth and refusing permission. It is a stem-changing verb, e to ie, and it also takes the spelling change g to gu before e in the subjunctive: niegue. This page puts negar to work: twelve example sentences in different tenses and persons, grouped by use, then two short dialogues where the verb appears naturally, then the common mistakes to avoid, and finally a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every Spanish form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for negar, and the full tables are on the negar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo niego todo ante el juez. — I deny everything before the judge.
  2. Él niega la verdad a sus padres. — He/she denies the truth to his parents.
  3. Ayer, yo negué el permiso para salir. — Yesterday, I denied permission to go out.
  4. Antes, nosotros negábamos que fuera culpable. — Before, we used to deny that he was guilty.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú negarás todo ante el juez. — Tomorrow, you will deny everything before the judge.
  2. Yo negaría la verdad a sus padres. — I would deny the truth to his parents.
  3. Él ha negado el permiso para salir. — He/she has denied permission to go out.
  4. Espero que él niegue que fuera culpable. — I hope he/she denies that he was guilty.

With other people

  1. Nosotros negamos todo ante el juez. — We deny everything before the judge.
  2. Vosotros negáis la verdad a sus padres. — You all deny the truth to his parents.
  3. Antes, ellos negaban el permiso para salir. — Before, they used to deny permission to go out.
  4. Mañana, él negará que fuera culpable. — Tomorrow, he/she will deny that he was guilty.

Negar in context

Two short dialogues that use negar the way people really use it. Read them aloud — the verb forms will stick much faster in a conversation than in a table.

Dialogue 1: today and yesterday

  • Ana: "Hola, ¿qué tal?" — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Luis: "Hoy niego todo ante el juez." — "Today I deny everything before the judge."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, negué el permiso para salir." — "Yesterday I denied permission to go out."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú negarás la verdad a sus padres?" — "And tomorrow, will you will deny the truth to his parents?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros negamos que fuera culpable." — "Tomorrow we deny that he was guilty."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo negaría la verdad a sus padres si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would deny the truth to his parents if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él niegue todo ante el juez." — "I hope he denies everything before the judge."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha negado el permiso para salir." — "Surely. He has already has denied permission to go out."
  • Marta: "Vale, nos vemos mañana." — "OK, see you tomorrow."

Notice how the same verb changes with the tense: the present for the plan, the conditional for the wish, the subjunctive after espero que, and the present perfect for what has already happened. That is the whole point of learning a verb across its tenses, not just in one form.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo niega todo ante el juez. — Right: Yo niego todo ante el juez. — The person matters: niega is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is niego. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Yo nego la verdad a sus padres. — Right: Yo niego la verdad a sus padres. — In the present, the correct first-person form is niego, not nego. negar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the present singular and third-person plural forms, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem.
  3. Wrong: Treating negar and admitir as identical in every context. — Right: Negar means to deny, to refuse, while admitir means to admit, the opposite in confessions. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: negar fits sentences such as Niego todo ante el juez, while admitir belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy negado la verdad a sus padres. — Right: Yo he negado la verdad a sus padres. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he negado, has negado, ha negado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo negué el permiso para salir todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo negaba el permiso para salir todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (negaba), not the preterite. The preterite (negué) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on negar: four on the forms, three on the meaning, and three on spotting the correct sentence. Check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ todo ante el juez. (present tense) A. niego B. niegas C. niega D. negamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ la verdad a sus padres. (preterite tense) A. negué B. negaste C. negamos D. negó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ el permiso para salir. (future tense) A. negará B. negaremos C. negarás D. negaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ que fuera culpable. (imperfect tense) A. negabais B. negábamos C. negaba D. negabas

  5. What does "Yo niego todo ante el juez." mean in English? A. I deny everything before the judge. B. I deny the truth to his parents. C. I deny permission to go out. D. I deny that he was guilty.

  6. What does "Él negó la verdad a sus padres." mean in English? A. He/she denied everything before the judge. B. He/she denied permission to go out. C. He/she denied that he was guilty. D. He/she denied the truth to his parents.

  7. What does "Nosotros negaremos el permiso para salir." mean in English? A. We will deny the truth to his parents. B. We will deny that he was guilty. C. We will deny permission to go out. D. We will deny everything before the judge.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo nego la verdad a sus padres. B. Yo niega la verdad a sus padres. C. Yo niego la verdad a sus padres.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él negué el permiso para salir. B. Él negó el permiso para salir. C. Él negaron el permiso para salir.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo niegue que fuera culpable. B. Yo nege que fuera culpable. C. Yo niegue que fuera culpable.

Answer key

  1. niego — The yo present form of negar is niego.
  2. negó — The el preterite form of negar is negó.
  3. negarás — The tu future form of negar is negarás.
  4. negábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of negar is negábamos.
  5. I deny everything before the judge. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form niego, so the English is "I deny everything before the judge." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she denied the truth to his parents. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form negó, so the English is "He/she denied the truth to his parents." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will deny permission to go out. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form negaremos, so the English is "We will deny permission to go out." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo niego la verdad a sus padres. — The correct sentence is "Yo niego la verdad a sus padres." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él negó el permiso para salir. — The correct sentence is "Él negó el permiso para salir." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo niegue que fuera culpable. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo niegue que fuera culpable." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

What does negar mean, and when do I use it?

Negar means to deny, to refuse. Negar means to deny or to refuse, and it covers denying something before a judge, denying the truth and refusing permission. It is a stem-changing verb, e to ie, and it also takes the spelling change g to gu before e in the subjunctive: niegue. A good first sentence to remember is Yo niego todo ante el juez. — "I deny everything before the judge."

What is the difference between negar and admitir?

Negar means to deny, to refuse, while admitir means to admit, the opposite in confessions. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use negar when you mean to deny, to refuse, as in Yo niego la verdad a sus padres., and use admitir for to admit, the opposite in confessions.

How do I say "I deny" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo negué la verdad a sus padres.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo negaba el permiso para salir.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he negado la verdad a sus padres..

How do I practise negar?

Start with the negar conjugation page for the full tables, then the negar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. The stem changes e to ie: yo niego, tú niegas, but nosotros negamos keeps the e. The g also becomes gu before e in the subjunctive: niegue.

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