Cortarse Examples, Sentences and Quiz
Cortarse means “to cut oneself”, and it is one of the verbs you will use every day in Spanish. Cortarse means to cut yourself, and it is used for cutting your finger while cooking, cutting yourself shaving and cutting your hair. It is the reflexive partner of cortar, and it is fully regular. This page shows cortarse in real sentences, in short dialogues, and in the mistakes learners make most often, and it finishes with a ten-question quiz so you can test yourself. Every sentence below comes with its English translation, and every form is the correct present-tense form unless the sentence is clearly marked as past or future. For a first taste: “Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.” — I cut myself my finger with the knife.
Cortarse in real example sentences
The twelve sentences below are grouped by how cortarse is used. Read each one out loud, then read the translation. If a sentence feels useful, copy it into your own notebook with one small change — a different time, a different person, a different place — and you have a new sentence of your own.
In the present: everyday use
These sentences use cortarse in the present tense, which is how you will meet it most often: routines, facts, and things happening now.
“Me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.” — I cut myself my finger with the knife.
“¿Tú te cortas al afeitarse por la mañana?” — Do you cut yourself while shaving in the morning?
“Se corta el pelo en la peluquería.” — He/she cuts himself my hair at the hairdresser's.
“Nos cortamos con el papel en la oficina.” — We cut ourselves with the paper in the office.
Talking about the past
The present is not the only tense you need. These sentences show cortarse in the past, so you can talk about what already happened.
“Ayer, yo me corté el dedo con el cuchillo.” — Yesterday, I cut myself my finger with the knife. (preterite)
“Él se cortaba al afeitarse por la mañana todos los días.” — He used to cut himself while shaving in the morning every day. (imperfect)
Plans and things already done
These sentences look forward, or look back at something already finished. Notice how the verb form changes while the meaning of cortarse stays the same.
“Nosotros nos cortaremos el pelo en la peluquería mañana.” — We will cut ourselves my hair at the hairdresser's tomorrow. (future)
“¿Te has cortado con el papel en la oficina?” — Have you cut yourself with the paper in the office? (present perfect)
More everyday uses
Four more present-tense sentences, covering the remaining persons, so you can see the whole table in action.
“Os cortáis el dedo con el cuchillo.” — You cut yourselves my finger with the knife.
“Se cortan al afeitarse por la mañana.” — They cut themselves while shaving in the morning.
“Me corto el pelo en la peluquería.” — I cut myself my hair at the hairdresser's.
“Se corta con el papel en la oficina.” — He/she cuts himself with the paper in the office.
Cortarse in context
Single sentences teach you the forms. Dialogues teach you when to use them. Read the short conversation below, then the paragraph that follows, and notice how cortarse appears naturally, without anyone stopping to think about conjugation.
A short dialogue
Lucía: “¿Tú te cortas el dedo con el cuchillo?” — Do you cut yourself my finger with the knife?
Carlos: “Sí, yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.” — Yes, I cut myself my finger with the knife.
Lucía: “Nosotros nos cortamos al afeitarse por la mañana.” — We cut ourselves while shaving in the morning.
Carlos: “Y ellos se cortan el pelo en la peluquería.” — And they cut themselves my hair at the hairdresser's.
Lucía: “Vosotros os cortáis con el papel en la oficina.” — You cut yourselves with the paper in the office.
Carlos: “Sí, y él se corta al afeitarse por la mañana.” — Yes, and he cuts himself while shaving in the morning.
A short paragraph
Lucía se corta el dedo con el cuchillo, y Carlos se corta al afeitarse por la mañana. Nosotros nos cortamos el pelo en la peluquería, y ellos se cortan con el papel en la oficina. Yo me corto el pelo en la peluquería, y mi padre se corta con el papel en la oficina. Cortarse is part of everyday life, because to cut oneself is something Spanish speakers do again and again, in every tense and every situation.
Common mistakes with cortarse
These are the errors learners actually make with cortarse. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.
Wrong: “Yo corto el dedo con el cuchillo.” Right: “Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.” Why: Cortarse is reflexive, so the pronoun me is required: without it the verb means something else, or nothing at all.
Wrong: “Ayer yo corto al afeitarse por la mañana.” Right: “Ayer yo corté al afeitarse por la mañana.” Why: The present and the preterite are different tenses: corto is happening now, while corté is a finished action in the past. Use the preterite with ayer.
Wrong: “Treating cortarse and herirse as identical in every context.” Right: “Cortarse means to cut oneself, while herirse means to hurt oneself.” Why: They overlap, but each has uses the other does not: cortarse fits sentences such as Me corto el dedo con el cuchillo, while herirse belongs in a different sentence. Check the meaning you want before choosing.
Wrong: “Yo soy cortado al afeitarse por la mañana.” Right: “Yo he cortado al afeitarse por la mañana.” Why: Spanish perfect tenses use haber, not ser: he cortado, has cortado, ha cortado. Ser plus the participle makes a passive, not a perfect tense.
Wrong: “De niño, yo corté el pelo en la peluquería todos los días.” Right: “De niño, yo cortaba el pelo en la peluquería todos los días.” Why: For a repeated habit in the past, use the imperfect (cortaba), not the preterite. The preterite (corté) is for one finished action.
Quiz: cortarse in use
Ten questions on cortarse in real sentences. Choose the correct answer for each one, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained.
1. Complete the sentence: “Vosotros ______ el dedo con el cuchillo.” (My finger with the knife.)
- (a) os cortáis
- (b) me corto
- (c) te cortas
Answer: os cortáis — The vosotros/as form of cortarse in the present is os cortáis.
2. Complete the sentence: “Ellos ______ al afeitarse por la mañana.” (While shaving in the morning.)
- (a) me corto
- (b) te cortas
- (c) se cortan
Answer: se cortan — The ellos/ellas/Uds. form of cortarse in the present is se cortan.
3. Complete the sentence: “Yo ______ el dedo con el cuchillo.” (My finger with the knife.)
- (a) se cortó
- (b) me corté
- (c) te cortaste
Answer: me corté — The yo form of cortarse in the preterite is me corté.
4. Complete the sentence: “Él ______ al afeitarse por la mañana.” (While shaving in the morning.)
- (a) se cortaba
- (b) me cortaba
- (c) te cortabas
Answer: se cortaba — The él/ella/Ud. form of cortarse in the imperfect is se cortaba.
5. Complete the sentence: “Nosotros ______ el pelo en la peluquería.” (My hair at the hairdresser's.)
- (a) me cortaré
- (b) te cortarás
- (c) nos cortaremos
Answer: nos cortaremos — The nosotros/as form of cortarse in the future is nos cortaremos.
6. What does cortarse mean in English?
- (a) to break (a bone)
- (b) to cut oneself
- (c) to hurt oneself
Answer: to cut oneself — Cortarse means “to cut oneself”. The other options are the meanings of different verbs.
7. Which sentence is correct?
- (a) Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.
- (b) Ellos corta el dedo con el cuchillo.
- (c) Yo me corto al afeitarse por la mañana ayer.
Answer: Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo. — “Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.” is correct. The other two sentences contain the mistakes explained in the section above.
8. How do you say “I cut myself my finger with the knife.” in Spanish?
- (a) Yo se cortan el dedo con el cuchillo.
- (b) Yo me corté el dedo con el cuchillo.
- (c) Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.
Answer: Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo. — “Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.” is the correct translation. The second option uses the wrong person's form, and the third uses the preterite.
9. What is the nosotros form of cortarse in the present tense?
- (a) te cortas
- (b) nos cortamos
- (c) me corto
Answer: nos cortamos — The nosotros form is nos cortamos.
10. Which of these sentences is in the present tense?
- (a) Ayer, yo me corté el dedo con el cuchillo.
- (b) Nosotros nos cortaremos el dedo con el cuchillo mañana.
- (c) Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.
Answer: Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo. — “Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.” is in the present tense. The other two are in the preterite and the future.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say 'I cut oneself' in Spanish?
Say 'Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo'. The complement follows directly, as in the examples above. For a routine, add a time expression: 'Yo me corto el dedo con el cuchillo todos los días'.
How do you say 'I cut oneself' in the past?
For one finished action, say 'Ayer, yo me corté al afeitarse por la mañana'. For a repeated habit, say 'Yo me cortaba al afeitarse por la mañana todos los días'. For something already done, say 'Yo me he cortado al afeitarse por la mañana'.
What is the difference between cortarse and herirse?
Cortarse means to cut oneself, while herirse means to hurt oneself. They are easy to confuse because they appear in similar situations, but they are not interchangeable: use cortarse when you mean to cut oneself, as in Me corto el dedo con el cuchillo.
Related pages
- Full conjugation of cortarse — every tense of cortarse in one place.
- Cortarse in the present tense — the full table and usage rules for one tense.
- Spanish verbs — the hub for every Spanish verb on VerbFlow.
- Verb quiz — test yourself on cortarse and other verbs.
- Conjugation practice — drill the forms of cortarse until they are automatic.