Breakdown of Der Weg zum Fluss ist kürzer.
sein
to be
zum
to the (zu + dem)
der Weg
the way
kurz
shortly / short
der Fluss
the river
Questions & Answers about Der Weg zum Fluss ist kürzer.
Why does kurz change to kürzer with an umlaut here?
To say "shorter" (the comparative form), you add -er to the adjective kurz. Many short, one-syllable German adjectives with a, o, or u also get an umlaut in this form. So, kurz (short) becomes kürzer (shorter).
Why is it zum Fluss and not just zu Fluss?
In German, you usually need the article "the" when talking about going to a specific place. zum is a mash-up of the preposition zu (to) and the dative article dem (the). The preposition zu always forces the dative case, changing the masculine der Fluss to dem Fluss, which shortens to zum Fluss.
Since Weg is masculine, shouldn't kürzer have an extra ending like kürzerer?
No, because kürzer comes after the verb ist and doesn't sit right in front of a noun. In German, adjectives only get extra case endings when they are directly attached to the noun they describe. Here, the comparative ending -er is all it needs.
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