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Ana Varela
What's the difference between: "to chop off my hair", "to cut my hair" and "to cut off my hair"?
May 20, 2015 12:27 PM
Answers · 4
1
"to cut my hair"--normal, common.
"to cut off my hair"--unusual. To remove most or all of one's hair.
"to chop off my hair"--unusual. Suggests a very bad, careless haircut.
"When I was younger, to save money, my wife cut my hair." "I'm going to get my hair cut." "I'm need to get a haircut [noun, one word]." All natural, common, normal things to say.
To "cut OFF my hair" suggests cutting most or all of it off. It is not a normal thing:
"I got glue in my hair! It was so bad that I needed to cut off most of my hair!"
You "cut" with scissors. You "chop" with an axe. To "chop my hair off" means to cut badly and quickly. "I got a very bad haircut. He didn't cut my hair, he just chopped it off."
May 20, 2015
'Chop' suggests a crude and violent movement, like chopping down a tree with an axe. For example, 'She was so angry and frustrated that she took a kitchen knife and chopped off all her hair'.
'Cut' is a neutral term. We don't know how it is done, or how much is cut off.
'Cut off' sounds much more radical. As I'm sure you know, adding 'off' to a verb makes the action stronger, more complete and more definitive.
If you say 'I'm going to cut my hair ', it might just be a trim. If you say 'I'm going to cut my hair off', you'd imagine someone with a very long hair who is planning to make a dramatic change.
May 20, 2015
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Ana Varela
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English, French, Portuguese, Russian
Learning Language
Chinese (Mandarin), French, Russian
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