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¿Qué hago? Corte la carne ahora.

¿Qué hago? Corte la carne ahora.
What do I do? Cut the meat now.
From Lesson 67:Affirmative commands·Spanish (Latin America)

Breakdown of ¿Qué hago? Corte la carne ahora.

ahora
now
qué
what
hacer
to do / to make
la carne
the meat
cortar
to cut

Questions & Answers about ¿Qué hago? Corte la carne ahora.

Why is the command corte instead of corta?
Corte is the formal usted command for cortar (to cut). For -ar verbs, the formal command ends in -e. If you were talking to a friend (using the informal tú), you would use the normal -a ending and say corta la carne.
How do I know who the speaker is talking to in the second sentence?
Because the speaker uses the formal command corte, we know they are addressing someone using usted. This might be a chef instructing a new employee in a restaurant kitchen, or a situation where the speaker wants to maintain professional distance.
Why does it say hago instead of "what should I do"?
In Spanish, the simple present tense is often used to ask for instructions or volunteer for a task. While English speakers usually say "What should I do?" or "What do you want me to do?", Spanish speakers simply ask ¿Qué hago? (literally "What do I do?").
Is hago an irregular verb?
Yes, it comes from the verb hacer (to do / to make), which has an irregular yo (I) form in the present tense. Instead of "haco", it changes to hago. The rest of the present tense forms are regular (haces, hace, hacemos, hacen).

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