Spanish Phrase
La línea se está cortando.
Meaning
Literally, ‘The line is cutting itself.’ In everyday speech it means the phone or internet connection is breaking up or dropping. It can also refer to a TV signal that keeps fading.
When to use
Use this phrase when you notice a loss of signal during a call, video chat, or streaming session, or when a physical cable seems to be failing. It’s a neutral, everyday way to report a technical glitch.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Lalíneaseestácortando
Definite article (La)
La is the feminine singular definite article, matching the gender and number of línea.
Noun (línea)
Línea means ‘line’ (telephone, internet, or any connection) and is feminine singular.
Reflexive pronoun (se)
Se is part of the pronominal verb cortarse; it indicates that the action happens to the subject itself.
Progressive tense (está + gerund)
Estar + gerund (cortando) forms the present progressive, expressing an action that is happening right now.
Gerund (cortando)
Cortando is the gerund of cortar, meaning ‘cutting’ or ‘being cut.’
🗨In Conversation
¿Puedes oírme bien?
Can you hear me well?
No, la línea se está cortando.
No, the line is cutting out.
✕Common Mistakes
La línea se está cortado.
Cortado is the past participle; the progressive needs the gerund cortando.
La línea está cortando.
Do not drop the reflexive pronoun ‘se’; it changes the meaning.
La línea se está el cortando.
Avoid adding an extra article before ‘cortando’; the gerund does not take an article.
↔Alternatives
La conexión se está interrumpiendo.
The connection is being interrupted.
Se está perdiendo la señal.
The signal is being lost.
El cable está fallando.
The cable is failing.
Cultural Tip
In many Spanish‑speaking countries, people often say ‘corte de línea’ to describe a dropped call or internet outage. The phrase is informal but perfectly acceptable in both casual conversation and when speaking with customer‑service agents. Remember that ‘cortarse’ is reflexive; omitting the ‘se’ (e.g., *La línea está cortando*) sounds ungrammatical to native ears.