Cortar Examples, Sentences and Quiz in Spanish

cortar means to cut, and it is a verb you will meet in everyday Spanish again and again. Cortar means to cut, and it covers cutting bread, cutting paper, cutting your hair and cutting a road or a conversation short. It is a fully regular -ar verb, and it takes a direct object for the thing cut. This page puts cortar to work: twelve example sentences in different tenses and persons, grouped by use, then two short dialogues where the verb appears naturally, then the common mistakes to avoid, and finally a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Every Spanish form on this page comes from the verified conjugation tables for cortar, and the full tables are on the cortar conjugation page if you need to check a form.

Example sentences

Everyday uses

  1. Yo corto el pan para el desayuno. — I cut the bread for breakfast.
  2. Él corta el pelo cada dos meses. — He/she cuts my hair every two months.
  3. Ayer, yo corté las verduras para la sopa. — Yesterday, I cut the vegetables for the soup.
  4. Antes, nosotros cortábamos el papel con las tijeras. — Before, we used to cut the paper with the scissors.

In other tenses

  1. Mañana, tú cortarás el pan para el desayuno. — Tomorrow, you will cut the bread for breakfast.
  2. Yo cortaría el pelo cada dos meses. — I would cut my hair every two months.
  3. Él ha cortado las verduras para la sopa. — He/she has cut the vegetables for the soup.
  4. Espero que él corte el papel con las tijeras. — I hope he/she cuts the paper with the scissors.

With other people

  1. Nosotros cortamos el pan para el desayuno. — We cut the bread for breakfast.
  2. Vosotros cortáis el pelo cada dos meses. — You all cut my hair every two months.
  3. Antes, ellos cortaban las verduras para la sopa. — Before, they used to cut the vegetables for the soup.
  4. Mañana, él cortará el papel con las tijeras. — Tomorrow, he/she will cut the paper with the scissors.

Cortar in context

Two short dialogues that use cortar the way people really use it. Read them aloud — the verb forms will stick much faster in a conversation than in a table.

Dialogue 1: today and yesterday

  • Ana: "Hola, ¿qué tal?" — "Hello, how are you?"
  • Luis: "Hoy corto el pan para el desayuno." — "Today I cut the bread for breakfast."
  • Ana: "¿Y ayer?" — "And yesterday?"
  • Luis: "Ayer, corté las verduras para la sopa." — "Yesterday I cut the vegetables for the soup."
  • Ana: "¿Y mañana, tú cortarás el pelo cada dos meses?" — "And tomorrow, will you will cut my hair every two months?"
  • Luis: "Sí, claro. Y tú también." — "Yes, of course. And you too."

Dialogue 2: making plans

  • Marta: "Mañana, nosotros cortamos el papel con las tijeras." — "Tomorrow we cut the paper with the scissors."
  • Carlos: "Perfecto. Yo cortaría el pelo cada dos meses si tuviera más tiempo." — "Perfect. I would would cut my hair every two months if I had more time."
  • Marta: "Espero que él corte el pan para el desayuno." — "I hope he cuts the bread for breakfast."
  • Carlos: "Seguro que sí. Él ya ha cortado las verduras para la sopa." — "Surely. He has already has cut the vegetables for the soup."
  • Marta: "Vale, nos vemos mañana." — "OK, see you tomorrow."

Notice how the same verb changes with the tense: the present for the plan, the conditional for the wish, the subjunctive after espero que, and the present perfect for what has already happened. That is the whole point of learning a verb across its tenses, not just in one form.

Common mistakes

  1. Wrong: Yo corta el pan para el desayuno. — Right: Yo corto el pan para el desayuno. — The person matters: corta is the él/ella/Ud. form, while the yo form is corto. Using the third-person form with yo is one of the most common beginner errors.
  2. Wrong: Vosotros cortais el pelo cada dos meses. — Right: Vosotros cortáis el pelo cada dos meses. — The vosotros present form carries a written accent: cortáis, not cortais. The accent marks the stressed vowel.
  3. Wrong: Treating cortar and picar as identical in every context. — Right: Cortar means to cut, while picar means to chop into small pieces. — They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: cortar fits sentences such as Corto el pan para el desayuno, while picar belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
  4. Wrong: Yo soy cortado el pelo cada dos meses. — Right: Yo he cortado el pelo cada dos meses. — Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he cortado, has cortado, ha cortado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
  5. Wrong: De niño, yo corté las verduras para la sopa todos los días. — Right: De niño, yo cortaba las verduras para la sopa todos los días. — For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (cortaba), not the preterite. The preterite (corté) is for one finished action.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on cortar: four on the forms, three on the meaning, and three on spotting the correct sentence. Check the answer key below.

  1. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ el pan para el desayuno. (present tense) A. corto B. cortas C. corta D. cortamos

  2. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el pelo cada dos meses. (preterite tense) A. corté B. cortaste C. cortamos D. cortó

  3. Complete the sentence: Tú ___ las verduras para la sopa. (future tense) A. cortará B. cortaremos C. cortarás D. cortaré

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el papel con las tijeras. (imperfect tense) A. cortabais B. cortábamos C. cortaba D. cortabas

  5. What does "Yo corto el pan para el desayuno." mean in English? A. I cut the bread for breakfast. B. I cut my hair every two months. C. I cut the vegetables for the soup. D. I cut the paper with the scissors.

  6. What does "Él cortó el pelo cada dos meses." mean in English? A. He/she cut the bread for breakfast. B. He/she cut the vegetables for the soup. C. He/she cut the paper with the scissors. D. He/she cut my hair every two months.

  7. What does "Nosotros cortaremos las verduras para la sopa." mean in English? A. We will cut my hair every two months. B. We will cut the paper with the scissors. C. We will cut the vegetables for the soup. D. We will cut the bread for breakfast.

  8. Which sentence is correct? A. Yo cortan el pelo cada dos meses. B. Yo corta el pelo cada dos meses. C. Yo corto el pelo cada dos meses.

  9. Which sentence is correct? A. Él corté las verduras para la sopa. B. Él cortó las verduras para la sopa. C. Él cortaron las verduras para la sopa.

  10. Which sentence is correct? A. Espero que yo corte el papel con las tijeras. B. Yo corten el papel con las tijeras. C. Yo corte el papel con las tijeras.

Answer key

  1. corto — The yo present form of cortar is corto.
  2. cortó — The el preterite form of cortar is cortó.
  3. cortarás — The tu future form of cortar is cortarás.
  4. cortábamos — The nosotros imperfect form of cortar is cortábamos.
  5. I cut the bread for breakfast. — The Spanish sentence uses the present form corto, so the English is "I cut the bread for breakfast." The other options use a different object or situation.
  6. He/she cut my hair every two months. — The Spanish sentence uses the preterite form cortó, so the English is "He/she cut my hair every two months." The other options use a different object or situation.
  7. We will cut the vegetables for the soup. — The Spanish sentence uses the future form cortaremos, so the English is "We will cut the vegetables for the soup." The other options use a different object or situation.
  8. Yo corto el pelo cada dos meses. — The correct sentence is "Yo corto el pelo cada dos meses." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  9. Él cortó las verduras para la sopa. — The correct sentence is "Él cortó las verduras para la sopa." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.
  10. Espero que yo corte el papel con las tijeras. — The correct sentence is "Espero que yo corte el papel con las tijeras." The other sentences use the wrong form or the wrong person for the subject.

Frequently asked questions

What does cortar mean, and when do I use it?

Cortar means to cut. Cortar means to cut, and it covers cutting bread, cutting paper, cutting your hair and cutting a road or a conversation short. It is a fully regular -ar verb, and it takes a direct object for the thing cut. A good first sentence to remember is Yo corto el pan para el desayuno. — "I cut the bread for breakfast."

What is the difference between cortar and picar?

Cortar means to cut, while picar means to chop into small pieces. They appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use cortar when you mean to cut, as in Yo corto el pelo cada dos meses., and use picar for to chop into small pieces.

How do I say "I cut" in the past?

For one finished action, use the preterite: Yo corté el pelo cada dos meses.. For a repeated habit or background in the past, use the imperfect: Yo cortaba las verduras para la sopa.. For something that has just happened, use the present perfect: Yo he cortado el pelo cada dos meses..

How do I practise cortar?

Start with the cortar conjugation page for the full tables, then the cortar in the present tense page for the tense in focus, and use the Spanish Verb Quiz to test the forms under pressure. Cortar is fully regular: corté, cortaba, cortaré. Cortarse, with the pronoun, means to cut yourself — a different meaning.

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