1. Let's start with the problem: How do you distribute a negative sign across terms inside parentheses? 2. Suppose you have an expression like $-(a + b)$. The negative sign in front of the parentheses means you need to multiply every term inside the parentheses by $-1$. 3. Distributing the negative sign means: $$-(a + b) = (-1) \times a + (-1) \times b = -a - b$$ 4. This works because multiplication is distributive over addition, so multiplying each term inside by $-1$ changes their signs. 5. For example, if you have $-(3x - 5)$, distribute the negative sign: $$-(3x - 5) = -3x + 5$$ 6. Notice that $3x$ became $-3x$ and $-5$ became $+5$ because multiplying $-5$ by $-1$ gives $+5$. 7. In summary, distributing a negative sign means changing the sign of each term inside the parentheses. Final answer: To distribute a negative sign, multiply each term inside the parentheses by $-1$, effectively changing their signs.