Reading · C2 · Text 22

Musical

60 words1 min read100% known at C2

Ein Musical ist ein Theater-Stück mit Musik, Gesang und Tanz.

A musical is a theater piece with music, singing, and dance.

Früher gab es auch schon eine Art Musicals, nämlich die Oper.

In the past, there was already a kind of musical, namely the opera.

Musicals sind meist flotter und fröhlicher als eine Oper.

Musicals are usually more lively and cheerful than an opera.

Sie können aber auch von etwas sehr Traurigem handeln.

But they can also deal with something very sad.

Die Musik wird meistens vor Ort während des Stücks gespielt.

The music is usually played on site during the performance.

Das macht ein Orchester oder eine andere, größere Musik-Gruppe.

This is done by an orchestra or another, larger music group.

15 words above C2

a theatrical performance combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance plural: Musicals a musical C1
Theater-Stück← das Theaterstück
a play performed in a theater compound of Theater and Stück; plural: Theaterstücke drama, piece, play (theatrical performance) C2/teˈʔaːtɐˌʃtʏk/
singing, vocal music plural: Gesänge (rarely used) singing, vocals; section of an epic poem; canto B2/ɡəˈzaŋ/
dance, dancing plural: Tänze dance B2/tan(t)s/
kind, type, sort plural: Arten kind, sort, type; species; nature, character B1/aːrt/
opera, a dramatic work combining text and music plural: Opern opera (theatrical work, combining drama, music, song and sometimes dance); opera house, opera (theatre, or similar building, primarily used for… B1[ˈoːpɐ]
flotter← flott
livelier, more brisk (comparative form) comparative of flott; used predicatively afloat, able to navigate; quick, swift; lively, zippy C2/flɔt/
fröhlicher← fröhlich
more cheerful, more joyful (comparative form) comparative of fröhlich; used predicatively merry; cheerful; either as a character trait or fleetingly B2/ˈfʁøːlɪç/
to deal with, to be about (in the phrase 'handeln von') intransitive, used with 'von' + dative; infinitive: handeln, past: handelte, perfect: gehandelt to act; to take action; to negotiate; to bargain; to haggle; to trade in; to deal; to sell B1/ˈhandəln/
vor Ort
on site, locally fixed expression, no article
during takes genitive (or dative in colloquial German) while (at the same time as); whereas, while (in contrast to); during, at the time of B1/ˈvɛːʁənt/
Stücks← das Stück
piece, play (here: theatrical piece) genitive singular of Stück; plural: Stücke one, item, piece, unit(of something countable; often untranslated in English); head (a single animal); piece (portion of something bigger or of an… A1/ʃtʏk/
orchestra, a large group of musicians plural: Orchester (same form) orchestra B1/ɔrˈkɛstər/
größere← groß
larger (comparative form, inflected) comparative of groß; here with feminine/plural ending -e big, large, large-scale; great, grand; tall A1/ɡʁoːs/
Musik-Gruppe← die Musikgruppe
music group, band compound of Musik and Gruppe; plural: Musik-Gruppen

Grammar in this text

Comparative adjectives with 'als'

Musicals sind meist flotter und fröhlicher als eine Oper.

The comparative form of adjectives (flotter, fröhlicher) is used to compare two things, and 'als' means 'than'.

Preposition 'während' with genitive

während des Stücks

The preposition 'während' (during) governs the genitive case, as seen in 'des Stücks'.

Verb 'handeln von' with dative

Sie können aber auch von etwas sehr Traurigem handeln.

The verb 'handeln' in the sense of 'to be about' is used with the preposition 'von' followed by the dative case (etwas sehr Traurigem).

Modal verb 'können' with infinitive at end

Sie können aber auch von etwas sehr Traurigem handeln.

In a main clause with a modal verb (können), the infinitive of the main verb (handeln) is placed at the end of the sentence.

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Text from Musical — Klexikon, used under CC BY-SA 4.0. See sources.

Translation, glossary and grammar notes are machine-generated and inherit the same licence.