Der Vokal in diesem Wort ist kurz.

They do. Vokal is a masculine noun in German, so its basic article is der.

• der Vokal = the vowel
• das Wort = the word

Grammatical gender in German does not always match natural gender or any pattern that feels obvious to English speakers, so it usually has to be learned with each noun.

Because in is followed by the dative case here.

German has some prepositions, including in, that can take either:

• accusative for movement toward somewhere
• dative for location

In this sentence, in diesem Wort means in this word, which is a location, not motion. So German uses the dative.

Since Wort is neuter singular, the dative form of dieses is diesem:

• nominative: dieses Wort
• dative: in diesem Wort

Ask whether the phrase expresses where or where to.

• where? → dative
• where to? → accusative

Here, the vowel is located in this word. Nothing is moving. So it is where?, which gives you the dative:

• Der Vokal ist in diesem Wort kurz.

Compare:

• Ich bin in dem Haus. = I am in the house. → location → dative
• Ich gehe in das Haus. = I go into the house. → movement/direction → accusative

Because kurz is a predicate adjective after the verb sein.

In German, adjectives behave differently depending on where they are:

1. Before a noun: they take endings

   • ein kurzes Wort
   • der kurze Vokal

2. After verbs like sein, werden, bleiben: they do not take endings

   • Der Vokal ist kurz.
   • Das Wort ist lang.

So kurz stays in its base form here.

Here kurz means short in pronunciation. It refers to the vowel sound, not to the physical length of the written word.

So the sentence means that the vowel in that word is pronounced as a short vowel.

For example, German often contrasts:

• lang = long vowel
• kurz = short vowel

This is a pronunciation point, not a spelling-length point.

Yes. Vokal is a standard and very common word, especially in grammar and language-learning contexts.

You may also see Selbstlaut, which is an older or more traditional term, but Vokal is the normal modern term in most contexts.

So for learners, Vokal is the word to remember.

A natural pronunciation is roughly:

dehr voh-KAHL in DEE-zem vort ist koorts

A few helpful notes:

• Vokal is stressed on the second syllable: vo-KAL
• diesem sounds like DEE-zem
• Wort has a German w
• kurz ends with a crisp ts sound

A more careful approximate pronunciation in English-style spelling would be:

dehr voh-KAHL in DEE-zem vort ist koorts

Because all nouns are capitalized in German.

So:

• der Vokal
• diesem Wort

This is one of the most noticeable spelling differences from English. In German, noun capitalization is standard, not optional.

Yes, German word order is flexible, as long as the finite verb stays in the correct position.

The original sentence is:

Der Vokal in diesem Wort ist kurz.

You could also say:

In diesem Wort ist der Vokal kurz.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mainly emphasis:

• Der Vokal in diesem Wort... focuses first on the vowel
• In diesem Wort... focuses first on this word

In a normal statement, the conjugated verb ist still has to stay in the second position.

The sentence breaks down like this:

• Der Vokal = subject
• in diesem Wort = prepositional phrase giving location/context
• ist = verb
• kurz = predicate adjective

So the pattern is:

Subject + prepositional phrase + verb + adjective

This is a very common German sentence pattern.

Yes, that is also grammatical.

• Der Vokal in diesem Wort ist kurz.
• Der Vokal dieses Wortes ist kurz.

The second version uses the genitive:

• dieses Wortes = of this word

The first version is often simpler and more conversational for learners:

• in diesem Wort = in this word

The second can sound a bit more formal or more tightly tied to grammar/linguistics style.