The mechanisms of pretilt angle generation in nematic liquid crystal (NLC) with negative dielectric anisotropy on a rubbed polyimide (PI) surface for homeotropic alignment were studied. The pretilt angle of negative type NLC was smaller than that of the positive type NLC for all rubbing strength regions on the rubbed PI surface. The pretilt angle generated in NLC does not attributable to steric interaction between the fluorine moiety of NLC and the polymer surface on the rubbed PI surface. Consequently, the mechanism of the pretilt angle generation for homeotropic alignment is different from the one for homogeneous alignment.