Der Cursor bewegt sich heute langsam auf dem Bildschirm.

Because Cursor is a masculine noun in German, so it takes the article der in the nominative singular.

• der Cursor = the cursor

This also affects other forms later in the sentence. For example:

• der Cursor (nominative)
• dem Cursor (dative)
• den Cursor (accusative)

The gender of German nouns often has to be learned along with the word itself.

In a normal German main clause, the finite verb must be in position 2. This is one of the most important German word order rules.

Here, the sentence is:

• Der Cursor = position 1
• bewegt = position 2
• sich heute langsam auf dem Bildschirm = the rest of the sentence

So even though English allows more flexibility in some cases, German usually requires that conjugated verb to come second in a main statement.

Sich bewegen is a very common reflexive verb in German, meaning to move or to be moving.

So:

• sich bewegen = to move
• Der Cursor bewegt sich = the cursor is moving / the cursor moves

The sich is the reflexive pronoun. In English, we usually just say moves, but German often uses a reflexive structure here.

Compare:

• Ich bewege den Tisch. = I move the table.
  (bewegen = move something)
• Der Cursor bewegt sich. = The cursor moves / is moving.
  (sich bewegen = move oneself / be in motion)

Because the subject is der Cursor, which is third person singular. The reflexive pronoun for third person singular is sich.

Here is the pattern:

• ich bewege mich
• du bewegst dich
• er / sie / es bewegt sich
• wir bewegen uns
• ihr bewegt euch
• sie / Sie bewegen sich

Since der Cursor corresponds to er, the sentence uses sich.

It is present tense (Präsens).

• Der Cursor bewegt sich heute langsam auf dem Bildschirm. = The cursor moves slowly on the screen today.
  = The cursor is moving slowly on the screen today.

German present tense often covers both the English simple present and present progressive, depending on context.

So this sentence could mean either:

• moves
• is moving

Yes, heute can move, but its position changes the emphasis.

In your sentence:

• Der Cursor bewegt sich heute langsam auf dem Bildschirm.

This is very natural. It gives heute a normal adverb position after the verb phrase begins.

You could also say:

• Heute bewegt sich der Cursor langsam auf dem Bildschirm.

That puts heute first for emphasis, but then the verb still has to stay in second position:

• Heute = position 1
• bewegt = position 2
• sich der Cursor langsam auf dem Bildschirm = rest of the sentence

German word order is flexible in some ways, but the verb-second rule still controls the sentence.

Because langsam is an adverb describing how the cursor moves, while auf dem Bildschirm describes where it moves.

A common German tendency is:

• time first
• then manner
• then place

So here:

• heute = time
• langsam = manner
• auf dem Bildschirm = place

This follows a very common word order pattern often summarized as TMP:

• Temporal (when?)
• Modal (how?)
• Lokal (where?)

That is why the sentence sounds natural as:

• heute langsam auf dem Bildschirm

Because this sentence describes location, not movement toward a destination.

German two-way prepositions like auf can take:

• dative for location: where?
• accusative for direction: where to?

Here, the cursor is moving on the screen, meaning its movement happens within that location, not onto the screen from somewhere else. So German uses the dative:

• auf dem Bildschirm = on the screen

Compare:

• Der Cursor bewegt sich auf dem Bildschirm.
  = The cursor moves on the screen.
  (location → dative)

• Ich lege das Handy auf den Tisch.
  = I put the phone onto the table.
  (direction/destination → accusative)

Because Bildschirm is masculine, and after auf with a location meaning, German uses the dative case.

So:

• der Bildschirm = nominative
• dem Bildschirm = dative

That gives:

• auf dem Bildschirm

This is a very common pattern with two-way prepositions.

It is the most direct and natural translation here, yes.

• auf dem Bildschirm = on the screen

In some contexts, German may also use other phrases depending on meaning:

• am Bildschirm can mean at the screen or in front of the screen
• auf dem Monitor = on the monitor
• auf dem Display = on the display

But for a cursor physically appearing and moving on a computer screen, auf dem Bildschirm is very natural.

Because all German nouns are capitalized.

So in this sentence:

• der Cursor
• dem Bildschirm

Both are nouns, so they begin with capital letters.

This is a standard rule in German and applies even in the middle of a sentence.

Yes. Der Mauszeiger is a common German alternative, especially when you specifically mean the mouse pointer.

• der Cursor = cursor
• der Mauszeiger = mouse pointer

Depending on context:

• Cursor can sound slightly more technical or general
• Mauszeiger is more specific to the pointer controlled by the mouse

So both can work, but they are not always perfectly identical in every context.

Yes, it sounds natural and grammatically correct.

It follows normal German patterns:

• Der Cursor = subject
• bewegt sich = verb + reflexive pronoun
• heute = time
• langsam = manner
• auf dem Bildschirm = place

It is a good example of standard German word order and a useful sentence for seeing how adverbs and reflexive verbs work together.