Learn Spanish (Latin America): Cortaré el flequillo muy despacito.

Cortaré el flequillo muy despacito.

I will cut the fringe very slowly.

Breakdown of Cortaré el flequillo muy despacito.

Questions & Answers about Cortaré el flequillo muy despacito.

Why use despacito instead of just despacio here?

Adding -ito to the adverb despacio (slowly) softens it and adds a feeling of extra care or gentleness. Since cutting hair requires precision, despacito implies doing it nice and slow or very carefully rather than just lacking speed.

I thought diminutives like -ito were only for nouns. Can adverbs take them too?

Yes! In Spanish (especially in Latin America), it is very common to add diminutives to adverbs. It does not mean small here; instead, it changes the mood. With despacio, it adds a sense of care. With time words like ahora (now), making it ahorita adds immediacy.

Does the word flequillo also have a diminutive suffix because of the -illo ending?

Historically, yes. It comes from fleco (fringe or tassel) plus the diminutive suffix -illo. However, flequillo has become the standard, everyday dictionary word for hair bangs or a fringe. So in this sentence, only despacito is being used specifically to change the tone of the action.

Could I say voy a cortar instead of cortaré?

Absolutely. Voy a cortar (I am going to cut) is actually much more common in everyday spoken Latin American Spanish. Cortaré is the simple future tense (I will cut), which is perfectly understood but can sound just a little more definitive or formal.