negar Imperfect Conjugation
negar — deny
Negar is completely regular in the imperfect: negaba, negabas, negaba...
negar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a repeated habit of denying something in the past or to set the scene of a refusal without a specific end.
Notes on negar in the Imperfect
No stem changes or spelling changes occur here. Use the standard -ar endings.
Example Sentences
De niño, él siempre negaba haber roto los juguetes.
As a child, he always denied having broken the toys.
él/ella/usted
Negábamos los rumores cada vez que surgían.
We used to deny the rumors every time they surfaced.
nosotros
Tú negabas la realidad por miedo.
You were denying reality out of fear.
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: negabamos
Correct: negábamos
Why: The nosotros form of all -ar verbs in the imperfect must have an accent on the first 'a'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: niego
Negar is a stem-changer (e > ie) in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: negué
Negar has a spelling change in the 'yo' form (negué) to keep the hard 'g' sound, but is otherwise regular.
Future
yo: negaré
Negar is completely regular in the future tense; just add the endings to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: negaría
The conditional of negar is regular: negaría, negarías, negaría...
Present Subjunctive
yo: niegue
The present subjunctive of negar features both a stem change (ie) and a spelling change (gu).
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: negara
The imperfect subjunctive of negar is formed from the third-person plural preterite: negara, negaras, negara...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: niega
Use 'niega' (tú) or 'niegue' (usted) to command someone to deny something.
Negative Imperative
yo: no niegues
The negative imperative of negar uses 'no' + present subjunctive forms.