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Questions & Answers about Salz macht das Essen lecker.
Why is Salz not preceded by an article?
Salz is a mass noun here and used in a general sense (“salt” as a substance, not a specific portion). In German, mass nouns can appear without an article when you talk about them generically—just like English “Salt makes food tasty.”
Why is Essen capitalized?
In German all nouns are capitalized. Here Essen is a noun meaning “food.” If it were the verb “to eat,” it would be lowercase essen.
What case is das Essen, and how do you know?
das Essen is in the accusative case as the direct object of macht. The subject Salz is nominative; the thing receiving the action (the food) is accusative.
Why doesn’t lecker have an ending like -e or -es?
Here lecker is a predicative adjective (an object complement), not an attributive one. Predicative adjectives following verbs like machen remain uninflected (no adjective endings).
Why is macht in the second position of the sentence?
German main clauses follow the V2 (verb-second) rule: the finite verb must occupy the second “slot.” You can move various elements into the first slot (subject, adverb, etc.), but the verb stays second.
Why is machen used here instead of schmecken (“to taste”)?
The verb schmecken in German is intransitive and takes a dative experiencer (e.g. Das Essen schmeckt mir). To express that salt causes the food to become tasty, you use machen + Accusative + predicative adjective.
Could you say Salz macht Essen lecker without das?
Yes. Omitting das—“Salz macht Essen lecker”—is also correct when speaking generically about “food” as a mass concept. Including das often points to a specific meal or portion.
How would you say “Salt makes the food even more delicious”?
You form the comparative of lecker and add noch:
Salz macht das Essen noch leckerer.