to treat / to give
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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.
to give
Colloquial and often ironic, used for involuntarily receiving or causing something unpleasant.
Der alte Drucker hat mir heute Morgen schon wieder einen Papierstau spendiert.
The old printer gave me yet another paper jam this morning.
'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 invite / load
Both words can mean that you pay for another person's food or drink. „Einladen“ usually presents the situation as an invitation, while „spendieren“ puts more emphasis on the generous act for the other person and sounds more colloquial. Depending on the nuance you want, both words may therefore fit.
Ich spendiere dir heute zum Essen ein großes Glas Wein.
I'm treating you to a large glass of wine with dinner today.
Ich lade dich heute zum Essen ein und übernehme die Rechnung.
I'm treating you to dinner today and covering the bill.
