The preterite of negar is used to express a specific instance of denying something in the past. For example, you might say “She denied the accusations immediately,” indicating a definitive moment of denial.

This verb follows a spelling change pattern in the preterite tense. The ‘g’ changes to ‘gu’ before ‘e’ to maintain the hard ‘g’ sound in certain conjugations.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Negar (to deny) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The preterite of negar expresses a completed action of denying or refusing in the past.

To deny: Describes declaring something untrue or refusing to accept, for example Negó las acusaciones (He/she denied the accusations) or Se negó a participar (He/she refused to participate).

To refuse: Used for rejection or declining, for example Le negaron el permiso (They denied him/her permission).

Examples

Examples of Negar in the Preterite (Past) Tense

Negué haber estado allí. (I denied having been there.)

Negaste tu participación en el incidente. (You denied your participation in the incident.)

El acusado negó los cargos. (The accused denied the charges.)

Negamos los rumores falsos. (We denied the false rumors.)

Los testigos negaron todo conocimiento. (The witnesses denied all knowledge.)

Negué el permiso para la fiesta. (I denied permission for the party.)

Negaste haber recibido el mensaje. (You denied receiving the message.)

La empresa negó las acusaciones. (The company denied the accusations.)

Negamos la entrada al club. (We denied entry to the club.)

Los estudiantes negaron hacer trampa. (The students denied cheating.)

Negué mi responsabilidad. (I denied my responsibility.)

Negaste conocer la verdad. (You denied knowing the truth.)

El político negó las alegaciones. (The politician denied the allegations.)

Negamos el acceso a los archivos. (We denied access to the files.)

Los empleados negaron su involucración. (The employees denied their involvement.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Negar (to deny) in the Preterite (Past) Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Preterite tense is also known as the Simple Past, Past Simple, Definite Past, Absolute Past, or Past Tense Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Perfecto Simple, Pretérito Indefinido, Pretérito Simple, Pasado Simple, or Pretérito de Indicativo in Spanish.