def step_5a(w):
 if w.endswith('e'):
  if (R2(w).endswith('e') or (R1(w).endswith('e') and (not is_short_syllable(w, before=(-1))))):
   return w[:(-1)]
 return w

def step_5a ( w ) : if w . endswith ( 'e' ) : if ( R2 ( w ) . endswith ( 'e' ) or ( R1 ( w ) . endswith ( 'e' ) and ( not is_short_syllable ( w , before = ( - 1 ) ) ) ) ) : return w [ : ( - 1 ) ] return w
step 5a strips suffix -e if preceded by multiple vowel-consonant pairs .