Here's why:
* Short vowel sound: The "a" in "tall" makes a short vowel sound, similar to the "a" in "cat".
* Long vowel rule: Long vowel sounds are typically associated with words where the vowel is followed by a single consonant and a silent "e" at the end (like "bake" or "hope").
* Double consonant: "Tall" has a double consonant ("ll"), which is not a characteristic of long vowel words.
Therefore, "tall" is considered a short vowel word.