Skip to content
fluentbyear

SPANISH VERB

negar

to deny

  • #179 most used
  • Irregular -ar verb
  • Gerund: negando
  • Past participle: negado

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. yo I deny
  2. tú you deny
  3. usted, él, ella he/she denies
  4. nosotros we deny
  5. vosotros Spain you all deny
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they deny

Past

Pretérito indefinido · finished actions

  1. yo I denied
  2. tú you denied
  3. usted, él, ella he/she denied
  4. nosotros we denied
  5. vosotros Spain you all denied
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they denied

Imperfect

Pretérito imperfecto · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. yo I used to deny
  2. tú you used to deny
  3. usted, él, ella he/she used to deny
  4. nosotros we used to deny
  5. vosotros Spain you all used to deny
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they used to deny

Future

Futuro · plans and promises; in speech, “voy a hablar” is just as common

  1. yo I will deny
  2. tú you will deny
  3. usted, él, ella he/she will deny
  4. nosotros we will deny
  5. vosotros Spain you all will deny
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they will deny

Conditional

Condicional · “would”

  1. yo I would deny
  2. tú you would deny
  3. usted, él, ella he/she would deny
  4. nosotros we would deny
  5. vosotros Spain you all would deny
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas they would deny

Present subjunctive

Presente de subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. yo (that) I deny
  2. tú (that) you deny
  3. usted, él, ella (that) he/she deny
  4. nosotros (that) we deny
  5. vosotros Spain (that) you all deny
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (that) they deny

Past subjunctive

Imperfecto de subjuntivo · “if I were”, “si …”

  1. yo (if) I denied
  2. tú (if) you denied
  3. usted, él, ella (if) he/she denied
  4. nosotros (if) we denied
  5. vosotros Spain (if) you all denied
  6. ustedes, ellos, ellas (if) they denied

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders; a negative one uses the subjunctive (no hables)

  1. tú deny!
  2. usted deny! (formal)
  3. nosotros deny! (let’s)
  4. vosotros Spain deny! (all of you)
  5. ustedes deny! (all of you)

How to use negar

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    Mi hijo niega haber roto el jarrón.

    My son denies breaking the vase.

  2. Past

    El mesero negó haber cobrado de más.

    The waiter denied having overcharged.

  3. Imperfect

    Ella siempre negaba que estuviera cansada.

    She always denied being tired.

  4. Future

    No te negaré que me dolió su comentario.

    I won't deny that his comment hurt me.

  5. Conditional

    Nadie te negaría un vaso de agua.

    Nobody would deny you a glass of water.

  6. Present subjunctive

    Es inútil que niegues lo que todos vimos.

    It's useless for you to deny what we all saw.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Me extrañó que negara conocer a Ana.

    It struck me as odd that he denied knowing Ana.

  8. Imperative

    ¡Niégalo si quieres, pero yo te vi!

    Deny it if you want, but I saw you!

Good to know

  • "Negarse a" is to refuse: "se negó a pagar". "No lo niego" is "I won't deny it".

Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ar verb.