to treat / to give
Loading your saved state.
to treat
To give someone something (e.g. a drink, a meal, a ticket) out of generosity, or to pay for it for them.
Zur Feier des Tages spendiere ich eine Runde Sekt für alle.
To celebrate the day, I'll treat everyone to a round of sparkling wine.
'Spendieren' follows a fixed sentence pattern: the person who pays is in the nominative. The person who receives something is in the dative. The thing being given is in the accusative.
Mein Chef spendiert uns (Dativ) heute das Mittagessen (Akkusativ).
My boss is treating us (dative) to lunch (accusative) today.
'Spendieren' does not mean the English 'to spend' (to spend money). It means to invite someone out of generosity or to pay for something for them, i.e. 'to treat someone to something'.
Ich habe gestern viel Geld ausgegeben.
I spent a lot of money yesterday.
This verb is often used for small everyday treats. Typical combinations are 'ein Getränk spendieren' (to treat someone to a drink), 'eine Runde spendieren' (to buy a round), or 'ein Eis spendieren' (to treat someone to an ice cream).
Nach dem Sieg hat der Trainer der ganzen Mannschaft eine Pizza spendiert.
After the victory, the coach treated the whole team to a pizza.
The meaning of receiving something unpleasant is always colloquial and ironic. You can recognize it by the fact that the object is something negative, for example a technical problem or a small accident.
Die Katze hat mir heute Nacht einen Kratzer spendiert.
The cat gave me a scratch last night.
to pay
'bezahlen' and 'spendieren' can both mean that someone pays money for something. 'bezahlen' is neutral: you pay a bill, for a coffee, or for a ticket. 'spendieren' means that you pay for something for another person and give it to them as a gift. It sounds generous and often friendly. The words can be confused because when you 'spendieren' something, you also pay. But 'spendieren' additionally says that someone else receives something. If only the payment is important, 'bezahlen' fits. If the generosity is important, 'spendieren' fits.
Nach dem Training spendiert Ali seinen Freunden eine Runde Getränke.
After training, Ali treats his friends to a round of drinks.
In der Pause bezahle ich mein Brötchen selbst.
During the break, I pay for my roll myself.