würzen
to season
To add spices, herbs, or other flavor-giving ingredients to a dish.
EXAMPLE
Ich muss die Soße noch mit Salz und Pfeffer würzen.
I still need to season the sauce with salt and pepper.
würzen
to season
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Meanings
würzen
to spice up
To give something, for example a story or speech, a special, interesting, or piquant touch.
EXAMPLE
Er würzte seine Geschichte mit einigen humorvollen Details.
He spiced up his story with a few humorous details.
Usage tips
Word family
The verb 'würzen' (to season) belongs to the word family of 'die Würze' (the characteristic flavor) and 'das Gewürz' (the ingredient used for seasoning). If you know the noun, you can easily work out the meaning of the verb.
EXAMPLE
Für dieses Gericht braucht man viele verschiedene Gewürze.
You need many different spices for this dish.
Sentence structure with 'mit'
When you say what you season something with, you use the preposition 'mit' followed by the dative. The structure is: [food in the accusative] mit [spice in the dative] würzen.
EXAMPLE
Er würzt seinen Salat gerne mit frischen Kräutern.
He likes to season his salad with fresh herbs.
Figurative meaning
In the figurative sense, 'würzen' (to spice up) works grammatically the same way as in cooking. You 'season' an abstract thing (e.g. a story) 'mit' (with) an interesting ingredient (e.g. humor).
EXAMPLE
Der Redner würzte seinen Vortrag mit persönlichen Anekdoten.
The speaker spiced up his talk with personal anecdotes.
Compare with
würzen vs schärfen
to sharpen
Würzen generally means adding flavor to a dish with spices, herbs, or other ingredients. Schärfen is more specific: it means making a dish hotter with pungent spices such as chili or pepper. Use würzen for adding more flavor and schärfen for adding more heat.
würzen
Die Köchin würzt die Suppe mit etwas Petersilie.
The cook seasons the soup with a little parsley.
schärfen
Die Köchin schärft die Suppe mit etwas Chili.
The cook makes the soup spicier with a little chili.
In real life
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