If one of the numbers you're trying to find the sum of is negative then do the following.
First, find the absolute values for both of the numbers then subtract the smaller amount from the larger amount. Then give the sign from the larger amount.
Find the absolute values of -7 and 5.
|-7| = 7
|5| = 5
Subtract 5 from 7.
7 - 5 = 2
7 is the larger number and it had a negative sign.
So, the answer is -2.
