Short vowels are vowel sounds that are pronounced briefly and do not have an extended duration like long vowels. In English, there are five primary short vowel sounds: /æ/, /ɛ/, /ɪ/, /ɒ/, and /ʌ/ . These sounds are usually represented by a single letter, and they occur individually between consonants in a Consonant-Vowel-Consonant (CVC) pattern. The CVC pattern states that when a single vowel is between two consonants, the vowel is pronounced as a short vowel sound. For example, the word "cat" has a short /æ/ sound because it follows the CVC pattern.

Short vowels are different from long vowels, which are vowel sounds that are pronounced for a longer duration compared to their short counterparts. Long vowels are often represented by a vowel digraph or a vowel followed by a silent ‘e’ . For example, the word "cake" has a long /eɪ/ sound because it follows the Vowel-Consonant-e pattern.

In summary, short vowels are vowel sounds that are pronounced briefly and do not have an extended duration like long vowels. They are usually represented by a single letter and occur individually between consonants in a CVC pattern.