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

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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

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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

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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!

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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

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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

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Die anderen Steine können durchschlagen.

The other stones can penetrate.

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

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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

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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.

The preposition auf can be translated as "on," but it takes on numerous other meanings in combination with various verbs. Today we are going to look at drauf, which appears in many commonly used phrases and is basically synonymous with darauf. Da- is a prefix that appears in front of a number of prepositions and is used to refer to an object that has already been identified. 

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You likely know the phrases Lust auf etwas haben and Bock auf etwas haben. In both of the sentences below, the object is missing from the sentence, as it has already been mentioned. You can note that in English, it's just referred to as "it." 

Ich habe so Lust drauf!

I'm really in the mood for it!

Caption 53, Reisen: Ein Tag in Freiburg

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Da habe ich einfach keinen Bock mehr drauf.

I just don't feel like doing it anymore.

Caption 10, heute-show: Hazel Brugger will Lehrerin werden

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The phrase Bock haben can be considered slang, and many phrases with drauf are colloquial...

Aber ich will jetzt nicht drauf eingehen.

But I don't want to go into it now.

Caption 69, Frida Gold: Interview

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Es kommt immer drauf an.

It always depends.

Caption 41, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Baden-Württemberg

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Es war ein schöner Tag und beide waren richtig gut drauf.

It was a nice day and both were in a really good mood.

Caption 7, Piggeldy und Frederick: Der Brief

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(You can also say schlecht drauf, which would be the opposite!)

... or even idioms:

Die Büchse da hat viel drauf!

That tin can has a lot on it [idiom, is very capable]!

Caption 10, Es war einmal... der Weltraum: Die Saurier

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Further Learning

Most of these phrases are quite common, so you'll find many examples on Yabla German.

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Ich würde mich hauptsächlich erst mal auf meine Sensorik, also auf mein Auge, auf meinen Sehsinn, auf meinen Tastsinn und auch wieder auf meinen Geruchssinn verlassen.

I would rely mainly first on my senses, that is, on my eye, on my sense of sight, on my sense of touch and, also again, rely on my sense of smell.

Captions 6-9, Kochhaus Berlin: Frische Zutaten erkennen

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In the Yabla example above, a chef discusses how he uses his senses when picking out produce. He first mentions sight—der Sehsinn—which relates to the verb sehen and was covered in a previous newsletter.

Das kann man besonders gut hier sehen.

You can see that particularly well here.

Caption 22, Eva erklärt: Farben

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Der Tastsinn refers to touch. Here, there are three verbs you will regularly see: not only tasten, but also berühren and anfassen. Generally, anfassen refers to intentionally touching something in order to get a better sense of it, or possibly to hold onto it. The verb berühren could refer to barely touching something, or touching it carefully or accidentally. It can also refer to being emotionally moved or "touched" by something. The verb tasten often refers to touching with the intent of finding something, like when you feel around for something in a bag or purse. 

Sie können's auch mal anfassen. -Das sieht so echt aus, so... -Ja.

You can also touch it. -It looks so real, so... -Yes.

Caption 50, Karlsruher Stadtgeburtstag: die Majolika-Manufaktur

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Papa Wutz kann seine Zehen wirklich nicht berühren.

Papa Wutz really can't touch his toes.

Caption 35, Peppa Wutz: Sport

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The chef in our first example lastly mentions der Geruchssinn, the sense of smell. The related verb here is riechen, which can be used to refer to both the act of smelling something or the state of smelling (like something). 

Ich rieche daran, ob die wirklich auch nach einer Erdbeere riecht.

I smell it to see if it also really smells like a strawberry.

Caption 23, Kochhaus Berlin: Frische Zutaten erkennen

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Boah, das riecht schon sehr gut. 

Wow, that smells very good indeed. 

Caption 50, Bundesländer und ihre Rezepte: Baden-Württemberg

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Der Geschmackssinn is not mentioned, as you generally don't try food before buying it unless invited to do so. You will often see not only schmecken, which is used to describe how something tastes, but also kosten, which refers to the act of trying food.

Das heißt, die Sachen schmecken ganz normal.

This means that the things taste quite normal.

Caption 37, Die Pfefferkörner: Endspurt

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Aber die meisten Leute kommen her, um das leckere Essen zu kosten.

But most people come here to taste the delicious food.

Caption 11, Weihnachtsmärkte: mit Eva

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The chef also doesn't mention das Gehör—the sense of hearing. Luckily, we have a lesson all about listening that you can peruse, as well as one on unrelated verbs that contain the root hören. 

Hört man das? -Ja, ja, man hört es. 

Can you hear this? -Yes, yes, we can hear it.

Caption 41, Böhmermann: Wie geht man als Satiriker mit Rechtspopulismus um?

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Further Learning
Practice describing what you can hear, see, smell, touch, and taste, and go to Yabla German to find other examples of the relevant verbs and nouns.