Schlagen

Schlagen is a German verb with several closely related meanings that center on hitting, beating, or striking. The basic sense is to strike or hit with force, either physically or metaphorically. It can be used transitively (jemandem etwas schlagen) or intransitively in contexts like timekeeping or rhythm. The participle of schlagen is geschlagen.

Common senses and usages include:

- Physical hit or strike: to strike someone or something, as in Er schlägt den Ball (he hits the ball) or Jemandem ins Gesicht schlagen (to strike someone in the face). The verb also appears in phrases like einen Schlag versetzen (to deal a blow).

- Defeating or defeating in competition: Einen Gegner schlagen means to defeat an opponent; Wir haben sie geschlagen means we defeated them.

- Beating or whipping ingredients: Eier schlagen (to beat eggs) and Schlagsahne schlagen (to whip cream). This sense emphasizes mixing with a whisk or mixer to incorporate air.

- Striking or chiming: Die Uhr schlägt zwölf means the clock strikes twelve, and Glocken schlagen describes bells tolling or chiming the hour.

- Keeping time or rhythm in music: den Takt schlagen or den Rhythmus schlagen can mean to beat time or provide a rhythmic pulse.

Etymology and form:

Schlagen comes from Old High German slagan, from Proto-Germanic *slaganą, related to the general idea of striking. The noun Schlag means a blow or strike, a unit of impact, and appears in compounds such as Schlagzeug (drums) and Schlagsahne (whipped cream, literally “beaten cream”). The verb is irregular in the present tense (ich schlage, du schlägst, er schlägt) and has the perfect form hat geschlagen.