Cortar Present Tense Conjugation in Spanish

The present tense of cortar — "to cut" in English — is the form you need for what happens now, for habits and for general truths. This page gives you the full present conjugation table for cortar with all six persons, explains exactly how the tense is formed for this verb, shows when to use it with real examples, and finishes with a quiz so you can test yourself. 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. To see it in a real sentence: Él corta el pan para el desayuno. — "He/she cuts the bread for breakfast." Work through the table below, then the formation notes, the usage rules and the contrast with the preterite, and test yourself at the end.

Present tense conjugation table: cortar

Every person of cortar in the present tense. The gerund is cortando and the past participle is cortado.

Present indicative

Person Form
yo corto
tú cortas
él/ella/Ud. corta
nosotros/as cortamos
vosotros/as cortáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. cortan

How the present indicative of cortar is formed

The present indicative of cortar is built from the stem cort- plus the present endings for -ar verbs. Take the infinitive, drop the -ar ending, and add the ending that matches the person. The table below shows the endings, and the full table above shows them attached to the stem.

Person Ending Form
yo -o corto
tú -as cortas
él/ella/Ud. -a corta
nosotros/as -amos cortamos
vosotros/as -áis cortáis
ellos/ellas/Uds. -an cortan

The gerund of cortar is cortando and the past participle is cortado. Both are regular for this verb, and the participle is the form you need for all the perfect tenses with haber.

When to use the present tense of cortar

The present tense is not one single use — it covers several situations, and cortar appears in all of them. The five uses below are the ones you will meet most often, each with an example that shows the verb in a natural sentence.

Habits and routines

The present tense describes things you do regularly. If you do it every day, every week or every morning, the present is the tense to use. For cortar, this use looks like this: "Yo corto el pan para el desayuno." — "I cut the bread for breakfast." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

General facts

The present tense states facts that are generally true, not tied to one moment. It is the tense for definitions and permanent situations. For cortar, this use looks like this: "Él corta el pelo cada dos meses." — "He/she cuts my hair every two months." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

What is happening now

The present tense also covers what is happening at this moment, especially with verbs that describe an action in progress. For cortar, this use looks like this: "Nosotros cortamos las verduras para la sopa." — "We cut the vegetables for the soup." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Timetables and schedules

The present tense is used for fixed plans and timetables, such as trains, classes and opening times, even when they refer to the future. For cortar, this use looks like this: "Ellos cortan el papel con las tijeras." — "They cut the paper with the scissors." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

Instructions and requests

The present tense appears in instructions and polite requests, where it sounds softer than a direct command. For cortar, this use looks like this: "Tú cortas el pan para el desayuno." — "You cut the bread for breakfast." Notice how the present form carries the time meaning on its own, without any extra word for the tense.

The present tense vs the preterite

Learners often mix up the present and the preterite with cortar. The rule is simple: the present is for habits, facts and what is happening now, while the preterite is for one finished action in the past. The three pairs below show the same idea in both tenses, so you can feel the difference.

Pair 1: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Yo corto el pan para el desayuno." — "I cut the bread for breakfast."
  • Preterite: "Yo corté el pan para el desayuno." — "I cut the bread for breakfast." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 2: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Él corta el pelo cada dos meses." — "He/she cuts my hair every two months."
  • Preterite: "Él cortó el pelo cada dos meses." — "He/she cut my hair every two months." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Pair 3: present vs preterite

  • Present: "Nosotros cortamos las verduras para la sopa." — "We cut the vegetables for the soup."
  • Preterite: "Nosotros cortamos las verduras para la sopa." — "We cut the vegetables for the soup." The first sentence uses the present because it describes a habit or a present fact; the second uses the preterite because it describes a finished action. The verb is the same — only the tense changes the meaning.

Example sentences in the present tense

Eight natural sentences with cortar in the present tense only. Each one uses a form from the table above.

  1. Yo corto el pan para el desayuno. — I cut the bread for breakfast.
  2. Tú cortas el pelo cada dos meses. — You cut my hair every two months.
  3. Él corta las verduras para la sopa. — He/she cuts the vegetables for the soup.
  4. Nosotros cortamos el papel con las tijeras. — We cut the paper with the scissors.
  5. Vosotros cortáis el pan para el desayuno. — You all cut the bread for breakfast.
  6. Ellos cortan el pelo cada dos meses. — They cut my hair every two months.
  7. Yo corto las verduras para la sopa. — I cut the vegetables for the soup.
  8. Él corta el papel con las tijeras. — He/she cuts the paper with the scissors.

Common mistakes

  1. 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.
  2. Wrong: Ayer, yo corto las verduras para la sopa. — Right: Ayer, yo corté las verduras para la sopa. — Ayer means yesterday, so it needs the preterite (corté), not the present (corto). The present is for now, not for yesterday.
  3. 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.
  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. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.

Quiz: test yourself

Eight questions on the present tense of cortar. Choose the right form, then 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: Tú ___ el pelo cada dos meses. (present tense) A. cortas B. corto C. corta D. cortamos

  3. Complete the sentence: Él ___ las verduras para la sopa. (present tense) A. corta B. corto C. cortas D. cortamos

  4. Complete the sentence: Nosotros ___ el papel con las tijeras. (present tense) A. cortamos B. corto C. cortas D. corta

  5. Complete the sentence: Vosotros ___ el pan para el desayuno. (present tense) A. cortáis B. corto C. cortas D. corta

  6. Complete the sentence: Ellos ___ el pelo cada dos meses. (present tense) A. cortan B. corto C. cortas D. corta

  7. Complete the sentence: Yo ___ las verduras para la sopa. (present tense) A. corto B. cortas C. corta D. cortamos

  8. Complete the sentence: Él ___ el papel con las tijeras. (present tense) A. corta B. corto C. cortas D. cortamos

Answer key

  1. corto — The yo present form of cortar is corto. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  2. cortas — The tu present form of cortar is cortas. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  3. corta — The el present form of cortar is corta. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  4. cortamos — The nosotros present form of cortar is cortamos. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  5. cortáis — The vosotros present form of cortar is cortáis. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  6. cortan — The ellos present form of cortar is cortan. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  7. corto — The yo present form of cortar is corto. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.
  8. corta — The el present form of cortar is corta. The other options are the other persons of the same tense.

Frequently asked questions

When do I use the present tense of cortar?

Use the present tense of cortar for habits, facts and what is happening now. For example: Yo corto el pan para el desayuno. — "I cut the bread for breakfast." The usage rules above give five situations with examples.

How is the present tense of cortar formed?

Take the stem cort- and add the present endings for -ar verbs. The full table is at the top of this page.

What is the difference between the present and the preterite of cortar?

The present describes a habit or a present fact, while the preterite describes a finished action. Compare Yo corto el pelo cada dos meses. with Yo corté el pelo cada dos meses. — the verb is the same, but the time meaning changes.

How do I practise the present tense of cortar?

Drill the six forms in the table above until you can say them without looking, then use the cortar examples and quiz page for more sentences, and test yourself with the Cortar conjugation page for the full picture across all tenses.

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