Negar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of negar — "to deny, to refuse" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for negar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. 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. To see it in a real sentence: Él niega todo ante el juez. — "He/she denies everything before the judge." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: negar

Every person of negar in the present tense. The gerund is negando and the past participle is negado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo niego
tú niegas
él/ella/Ud. niega
nosotros/as negamos
vosotros/as negáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. niegan

How the present indicative of negar is formed

The present indicative of negar is built from the stem neg- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o niego
tú -as niegas
él/ella/Ud. -a niega
nosotros/as -amos negamos
vosotros/as -áis negáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an niegan

negar is a stem-changing verb (e → ie), so the stem changes in the singular and third-person plural forms of the present, while nosotros and vosotros keep the original stem. In this tense the first-person form is niego, and the nosotros form is negamos.

negar is a spelling-change verb: g becomes gu before e. That is why the written form changes in some persons — the sound stays the same, and only the spelling adapts. In this tense, watch the first-person form niego in particular.

The gerund of negar is negando and the past participle is negado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

This tense is irregular for negar, so the forms in the table above are the ones to learn — do not try to derive them from the regular endings. 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.

When to use the present tense of negar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and negar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For negar, this use looks like this: "Yo niego todo ante el juez." — "I deny everything before the judge." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For negar, this use looks like this: "Él niega la verdad a sus padres." — "He/she denies the truth to his parents." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For negar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros negamos el permiso para salir." — "We deny permission to go out." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For negar, this use looks like this: "Ellos niegan que fuera culpable." — "They deny that he was guilty." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For negar, this use looks like this: "Tú niegas todo ante el juez." — "You deny everything before the judge." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with negar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo niego todo ante el juez." — "I deny everything before the judge."
  • Preterite: "Yo negué todo ante el juez." — "I denied everything before the judge." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él niega la verdad a sus padres." — "He/she denies the truth to his parents."
  • Preterite: "Él negó la verdad a sus padres." — "He/she denied the truth to his parents." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros negamos el permiso para salir." — "We deny permission to go out."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros negamos el permiso para salir." — "We denied permission to go out." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with negar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo niego todo ante el juez. — I deny everything before the judge.
  2. Tú niegas la verdad a sus padres. — You deny the truth to his parents.
  3. Él niega el permiso para salir. — He/she denies permission to go out.
  4. Nosotros negamos que fuera culpable. — We deny that he was guilty.
  5. Vosotros negáis todo ante el juez. — You all deny everything before the judge.
  6. Ellos niegan la verdad a sus padres. — They deny the truth to his parents.
  7. Yo niego el permiso para salir. — I deny permission to go out.
  8. Él niega que fuera culpable. — He/she denies that he was guilty.

Common mistakes

  1. 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.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo niego el permiso para salir. — Right: Ayer, yo negué el permiso para salir. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (negué), not the present (niego). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. 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.
  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. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of negar. Choose the right form, then 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: Tú ___ la verdad a sus padres. (present tense) A. niegas B. niego C. niega D. negamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el permiso para salir. (present tense) A. niega B. niego C. niegas D. negamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ que fuera culpable. (present tense) A. negamos B. niego C. niegas D. niega

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ todo ante el juez. (present tense) A. negáis B. niego C. niegas D. niega

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ la verdad a sus padres. (present tense) A. niegan B. niego C. niegas D. niega

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el permiso para salir. (present tense) A. niego B. niegas C. niega D. negamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ que fuera culpable. (present tense) A. niega B. niego C. niegas D. negamos

Answer key

  1. niego — The yo present form of negar is niego. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. niegas — The tu present form of negar is niegas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. niega — The el present form of negar is niega. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. negamos — The nosotros present form of negar is negamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. negáis — The vosotros present form of negar is negáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. niegan — The ellos present form of negar is niegan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. niego — The yo present form of negar is niego. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. niega — The el present form of negar is niega. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of negar?

Use the present tense of negar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo niego todo ante el juez. — "I deny everything before the judge." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of negar formed?

Take the stem neg- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page. Remember the stem change: the singular and third-person plural forms change the stem vowel. Remember the spelling change: g becomes gu before e.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of negar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo niego la verdad a sus padres. with Yo negué la verdad a sus padres. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of negar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the negar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Negar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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