You may already know the noun der Schlag and the verb schlagen:

Eine Ohrfeige ist ein Schlag auf die Wange.

A slap is a blow to the cheek.

Caption 34, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Baden-Württemberg

 Play Caption

Sie schlagen mit ihren Flossen auf die Oberfläche, um die Möwen anzulocken.

They strike their fins on the surface to attract gulls.

Captions 75-76, Die Top Ten: Die 12 freundlichsten Meerestiere der Welt

 Play Caption

Both Schlag and schlagen have to do with "hitting" or "striking" something. But did you know that they are the root words for over a thousand German nouns and verbs? Let's take a look first at some common nouns with Schlag as their root word:

Der Anschlag, ja.  -Da war dann alles völlig anders. -Am 11. September.

The attack, yes. -Then everything was completely different there. -On September 11th.

Captions 53-54, Dieter Kränzlein: Bildhauer

 Play Caption

Wenn dir der Vorschlag zu riskant ist, dann mieten wir die Fahrräder einfach nur bei dir.

If the proposal is too risky for you, then we'll just rent the bikes from you.

Captions 25-26, Nicos Weg: Praktisch!

 Play Caption

Ich spiele viel Klavier auch sonst, aber ich spiel' auch Schlagzeug.

I play... I play a lot of piano also otherwise, but I also play drums.

Caption 58, Rockfabrik-Open-Air: Love-Street-Interview

 Play Caption

It's pretty clear how the root word Schlag is related to the noun der Anschlag ("the attack"). It's less clear, however, how the root word is related to der Vorschlag ("the proposal"). If you reduce das Schlagzeug to its root words, you have der Schlag and das Zeug, which could render "drums" into the literal translation "hit thing!" There is a certain logic here, however, as a drum is something that is struck.

Let's follow up with some verbs:

Und der Treves wurde vom Amt beschlagnahmt. -Ja, das war eine sehr, sehr schlechte Haltung.

And Treves was seized by the pound. -Yes, that was a very, very bad situation.

Caption 12, Ein Herz für Tiere: Tierschutzhof in Huggenhardt

 Play Caption

Die anderen Steine können durchschlagen.

The other stones can penetrate.

Caption 47, Es war einmal... der Weltraum: Planet Omega

 Play Caption

Der einst in Berlin ansässige Kunsthandel des jüdischen Paares wurde von den Nationalsozialisten zerschlagen.

Once based in Berlin, the art business of the Jewish couple was destroyed by the National Socialists.

Captions 6-7, Restituierung von Raubkunst: aus der Nazi-Zeit

 Play Caption

With verbs too, the relation to schlagen is sometimes clearer: durchschlagen ("to penetrate") may also be translated more literally as "to break through." The verb zerschlagen also has an element of hitting or striking in its meaning "to destroy." It's not as clear, however, how beschlagnahmen ("to seize") is connected with its root word.

Very often you have to go back centuries to Middle or Old German to find out how the words were originally related before their meaning changed over time. Sometimes even linguists aren't certain how the words came to have such different meanings from their root words!

Further Learning
Read through this list of words that use der Schlag and schlagen as root words, and look some of them up on Yabla German to see them used in a real-world context.

A few lessons ago, we discussed the Performing Arts (die darstellende Kunst), one of which is music (die Musik). Let's take a look today at the German names of some of the most common musical instruments used in classical music.

The piano is one of the main instruments in Western culture, and many musicians who specialize in other instruments and singing are often required to learn some basic piano skills. This is because of the piano's large range, from deep bass to high treble, which allows it to cover all of the ranges used by orchestral instruments. The piano is also important for musical composition, and many works for orchestra have been composed using the piano. 

banner PLACEHOLDER

In German, the piano may be called either das Klavier or das Piano, although the latter is more old-fashioned and sometimes used in jest. A person who plays the piano is called der Klavierspieler / die Klavierspielerin or der Pianist / die Pianistin. This reflects the English terms "piano player" and "pianist" respectively.

Piggeldy wollte wissen, wie man Klavier spielt.

Piggeldy wanted to know how to play the piano.

Caption 2, Piggeldy und Frederick: Das Klavier

 Play Caption

Er ist eigentlich klassischer Pianist.

He is actually a classical pianist.

Caption 54, Rockfabrik-Open-Air Love-Street: Interview

 Play Caption

The violin also has two common names in German: die Geige or die Violine. A person who plays the violin is called either der Geiger / die Geigerin or der Violinist / die Violinistin.

Die beiden Spezialisten, haben von klein auf klassischen Unterricht bekommen, das heißt, Violine und Klavier.

The two experts received classical instruction from an early age, that is, violin and piano.

Captions 26-27, Sons of Sounds Open: Air in Karlsruhe

 Play Caption

Star-Geiger David Garrett war für einen Kurzauftritt angereist

Star violinist David Garrett had traveled here for a brief appearance

Caption 52, rheinmain Szene: Live-Entertainment-Award in Frankfurt

 Play Caption

Of the remaining bowed string instruments, the viola is called die Bratsche and is played by der Bratschist / die Bratschistin. The cello, which is actually short for "violoncello," is called the same in German: das Cello. A person who plays the cello is der Cellist / die Cellistin. The double bass—also called the upright bass or acoustic bass—is the deepest of the string instruments. In German, it's called der Kontrabass and its players are called der Kontrabassist / die Kontrabassistin.

Der Mensch braucht eine Geige, ein Klavier und einen Kontrabass.

A human being needs a violin, a piano and a contrabass.

Caption 65, Deutschkurs in Tübingen: Was braucht der Mensch?

 Play Caption

The highest of the woodwind reed instruments are the clarinet and the oboe, called die Klarinette and die Oboe respectively. The clarinet is played by der Klarinettist / die Klarinettistin and the oboe by der Oboist / die Oboistin. The deepest is the bassoon, in German das Fagott, which is played by der Fagottist / die Fagottistin. 

There are also several non-reed woodwind instruments such as the flute and the recorder, respectively called die Flöte and die Blockflöte in German. A flautist is der Flötist / die Flötistin, and a recorder player is der Blockflötist / die Blockflötistin.

Der Rattenfänger ging auf die Hauptstraße und zückte seine Flöte.

The Pied Piper went out onto the main street and pulled out his flute.

Caption 37, Märchen: Sagenhaft Der Rattenfänger von Hameln

 Play Caption

Of the brass instruments, the most commonly used are the trumpet and the French horn, respectively die Trompete and das Horn in German. The players are der Trompetist / die Trompetistin and der Hornist / die Hornistin. In the lower registers there's also the tuba, die Tuba. It's played by der Tubist / die Tubistin, or alternately der Tubaspieler / die Tubaspielerin. 

Und mit dir Trompeten, Geigen und Chöre...

And with you, trumpets, violins and choirs...

Caption 69, Wincent Weiss & Benni Freibott: Musik sein

 Play Caption

Lastly, the main percussion instruments used are the marimba (die Marimba), the snare drum (die kleine Trommel), and the timpani (die Pauke). The snare drum has a variety of names in German, but it's often informally referred to simply by its English name, die Snare. The person in the orchestra playing these instruments is called der Perkussionist / die Perkussionistin. 

Dann Paukenschläge auf Trommelwirbel...

Then timpani strikes over a drum roll...

Caption 71, Wincent Weiss & Benni Freibott Musik sein

 Play Caption

Further Learning
Go to Yabla German and watch the videos above relating to musical instruments. You can also search for the names of the instruments and find other videos. Find a tandem partner in your class and make up some sentences in German using these musical instrument words, then compare what you both came up with. In an upcoming lesson, we'll talk about the different kinds of musical instruments used in pop music!

In English, we talk about events or circumstances having "advantages" or "disadvantages," or the "pros and cons" of a situation. Let's take a look at the vocabulary used to express these qualities in German.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Der Vorteil can be translated as "the advantage" or "the benefit":

Vorteil: Schließt man den Schirm, ist die nasse Seite innen.

Advantage: If you close the umbrella, the wet side is on the inside.

Caption 9, Erfindung aus Japan - Der verkehrte Regenschirm

 Play Caption

Der Nachteil can be translated as "the disadvantage" or "the drawback": 

Die Musik ist manchmal 'n bisschen zu laut.

The music is sometimes a little too loud.

Das ist der Nachteil.

That's the drawback.

Captions 52-53, Rockfabrik-Open-Air - Love-Street-Interview

 Play Caption

Here we can see the plural forms of both of these words:

Das hat viele Vorteile, aber auch Nachteile,

That has many advantages, but also disadvantages,

gesteht der Sänger im Interview.

the singer admits in the interview.

Caption 9, Andreas Bourani - Startet durch

 Play Caption

To say that something is "advantageous" or "beneficial," we can use the German adjective vorteilhaft. The opposite of that would be nachteilig or unvorteilhaft. We can also create an adjective by including the word von before the noun:

Und es wär' dann schon von Vorteil zu sagen:

And it would then be advantageous to say:

OK, ich kann die Vorlesung halt eben auch daheim anschauen.

OK, I can also just watch the lecture at home.

Captions 25-26, KIT, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie - Umfrage: Was bedeutet barrierefrei?

 Play Caption

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
After you've looked at these examples on Yabla German, try to figure out the meaning of these additional phrases and sentences:

beiderseitiger Vorteil 
finanzieller Vorteil 
erheblicher Nachteil
Es gibt sowohl Vor- als auch Nachteile.
Die Vorteile überwiegen die Nachteile.