cortar Affirmative Imperative Conjugation
cortar — to cut
The affirmative imperative of cortar gives direct commands: corta (tú), cortad (vosotros), corte(n) (usted/es).
cortar Affirmative Imperative Forms
When to Use the Affirmative Imperative
Use this to tell someone to cut something immediately, like 'Cut the bread!' or 'Chop the wood!'.
Notes on cortar in the Affirmative Imperative
Cortar is regular. The 'tú' form is the same as the present indicative 'él' form, and the 'vosotros' form simply replaces the 'r' with a 'd'.
Example Sentences
¡Corta el papel por la línea!
Cut the paper along the line!
tú
Corte usted las verduras en trozos pequeños.
Cut the vegetables into small pieces (formal).
usted
Cortad el césped antes de que llueva.
Cut the grass before it rains (plural/informal).
vosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'cortar' as a command for vosotros.
Correct: cortad
Why: In formal Spanish, the imperative for vosotros ends in -d, not -r.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: corto
Cortar is a regular -ar verb in the present tense: corto, cortas, corta, cortamos, cortáis, cortan.
Preterite
yo: corté
The preterite of cortar is regular: corté, cortaste, cortó, cortamos, cortasteis, cortaron.
Imperfect
yo: cortaba
Cortar in the imperfect follows the regular -aba pattern: cortaba, cortabas, cortaba, cortábamos, cortabais, cortaban.
Future
yo: cortaré
The future of cortar is formed by adding endings to the infinitive: cortaré, cortarás, cortará, cortaremos, cortaréis, cortarán.
Conditional
yo: cortaría
The conditional of cortar uses the infinitive plus -ía endings: cortaría, cortarías, cortaría, cortaríamos, cortaríais, cortarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: corte
The present subjunctive of cortar uses -e endings: corte, cortes, corte, cortemos, cortéis, corten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cortara
The imperfect subjunctive of cortar is based on the 'ellos' preterite: cortara, cortaras, cortara, cortáramos, cortarais, cortaran.
Negative Imperative
yo: no cortes
The negative imperative of cortar uses 'no' plus the present subjunctive: no cortes, no corte, no cortemos, no cortéis, no corten.