cortar

Cortar is a Spanish verb meaning to cause to be separated or removed by making a cut with a sharp instrument, and it can also mean to trim, reduce, or prune. The core sense is physical separation of material, as in cortar la fruta, cortar el papel, or cortar el cabello. Beyond the literal sense, cortar can describe reducing or ending something, such as cortar gastos (to cut costs), cortar el suministro (to cut off the supply), or cortar el paso (to block the way). The verb is also used in figurative expressions, such as cortar por lo sano (to do something decisively) or cortar una relación (to end a relationship). In film, television, and media, cortar is used for editing, as in cortar una toma (to cut a take) or cortar la escena.

Cortar is a regular -ar verb, so its conjugation follows the standard patterns of other -ar verbs. Present indicative forms are corto, cortas, corta, cortamos, cortáis, cortan. The preterite is corté, cortaste, cortó, cortamos, cortasteis, cortaron; imperfect is cortaba, cortabas, cortaba, cortábamos, cortabais, cortaban. Subjunctive present forms are corte, cortes, corte, cortemos, cortéis, corten; the imperative forms include corta (tú), corte (usted), cortemos (nosotros), cortad (vosotros), corten (ustedes).

Etymology traces the word to the Latin root related to cutting, and it is part of a broader family including recortar, corte, and cortador. Related senses cover both tangible actions (cutting food, fabric, or wood) and abstract actions (cutting timelines, budgets, or communication).