def is_short(w):
 return (is_short_syllable(w[(-3):]) and (len([ch for ch in w[:(-3)] if (ch in VOWELS)]) == 0))

def is_short ( w ) : return ( is_short_syllable ( w [ ( - 3 ) : ] ) and ( len ( [ ch for ch in w [ : ( - 3 ) ] if ( ch in VOWELS ) ] ) == 0 ) )
a word is called short if it consists of a short syllable preceded by zero or more consonants .