Learn Hardcore German: Auf dem Küchentisch liegen verschiedene Gewürze wie Salz und Pfeffer. - There are various spices such as salt and pepper on the kitchen table.

The preposition auf is one of the so‑called two-way prepositions (Wechselpräpositionen), which can take either accusative or dative.
When it describes location (where something is), it takes dative → auf dem Küchentisch = on the kitchen table (location).
When it describes direction (where something is going), it takes accusative → auf den Küchentisch = onto the kitchen table (movement).

Here, the spices are just lying there, so it’s a location → dative: dem.

Could we also say Auf den Küchentisch here? If so, what would it mean?

You can say auf den Küchentisch, but not with the verb liegen.

Auf den Küchentisch (+ accusative) expresses movement onto the table.
You would use a verb of putting/placing, e.g.:
- Ich stelle die Gewürze auf den Küchentisch. – I put the spices onto the kitchen table.

With liegen (to be lying), you describe a static position, so you must use dative → auf dem Küchentisch.

Why does the verb liegen come right after Auf dem Küchentisch? Isn’t the verb supposed to be in second position?

It is in second position. In German, the finite verb must be in second position in a main clause, but “second position” means the second element, not the second word.

In the sentence
- Auf dem Küchentisch liegen verschiedene Gewürze …
  the first element is the whole prepositional phrase Auf dem Küchentisch (counted as 1 unit),
  and the second element is the verb liegen.

So the verb-second rule is respected:

Auf dem Küchentisch
liegen
verschiedene Gewürze wie Salz und Pfeffer

Could we also say Verschiedene Gewürze liegen auf dem Küchentisch? Is that still correct?

Yes, that is perfectly correct and very natural.

Verschiedene Gewürze liegen auf dem Küchentisch.
and
Auf dem Küchentisch liegen verschiedene Gewürze.

mean the same thing. The difference is just what you want to emphasize or foreground:

Starting with Verschiedene Gewürze focuses more on what is there.
Starting with Auf dem Küchentisch focuses more on where they are.

In both versions, the verb is the second element, so both are grammatically fine.

Why is it liegen and not liegt or sind?

Three things are going on here:

Plural agreement:
- The subject is verschiedene Gewürze (spices), which is plural, so the verb must be plural: liegen, not liegt (that’s 3rd person singular).
Choice of verb – liegen vs sein:
- German often uses specific “position verbs” instead of just sein (to be).
- liegen = to be lying (horizontally),
- stehen = to be standing (upright),
- sitzen = to be sitting.
- So Die Gewürze liegen auf dem Küchentisch literally means The spices are lying on the kitchen table.
You could say Auf dem Küchentisch sind verschiedene Gewürze, and it’s grammatically correct, but liegen sounds more vivid and natural here.

What exactly is verschiedene doing grammatically, and why does it end in -e?

Verschiedene is an adjective modifying Gewürze and means different / various / several kinds of.

Grammatically:

Gewürze is nominative plural, because it’s the subject of the sentence.
An adjective before a plural noun in nominative usually takes the ending -e:
- verschiedene Gewürze
- alte Schuhe (old shoes)
- rote Tomaten (red tomatoes)

So verschiedene is just a regular nominative plural adjective.

Is there a difference between verschiedene Gewürze, viele Gewürze, and einige Gewürze?

Yes, there are nuance differences:

verschiedene Gewürze – various / different kinds of spices
- Focuses on variety, suggesting that the spices are not all the same type.
viele Gewürze – many spices
- Focuses on quantity, not necessarily on how different they are.
einige Gewürze – some spices / a few spices
- Neutral about variety, suggests a small or moderate number.

So in the original sentence, verschiedene Gewürze highlights that there are several different kinds (e.g., salt, pepper, paprika, etc.), not just a big amount of one spice.

Why is Gewürze in the plural here? Could you also say ein Gewürz?

It’s plural because we are talking about more than one spice:

Gewürz = a spice (singular)
Gewürze = spices (plural)

The adjective verschiedene practically forces a plural: you can’t have “different” if there is only one.
So:

verschiedene Gewürze = different spices / various spices

You could say something like:

Auf dem Küchentisch liegt ein Gewürz. – There is one spice lying on the kitchen table.

but then you wouldn’t use verschiedene.

What does wie mean in wie Salz und Pfeffer, and how is it different from English like or such as?

Here, wie means like / such as, introducing examples of the spices:

verschiedene Gewürze wie Salz und Pfeffer
= various spices such as salt and pepper

Important points:

In this usage, wie does not mean how (as in “How are you?”) and not “as” in the sense of “as a teacher”.
It simply introduces typical examples from a larger group, just like like or such as in English.

You could also say:

… verschiedene Gewürze, zum Beispiel Salz und Pfeffer. – … various spices, for example salt and pepper.

Do we need a comma before wie Salz und Pfeffer in German?

No comma is needed here, and in standard German you normally don’t put one:

Auf dem Küchentisch liegen verschiedene Gewürze wie Salz und Pfeffer. ✅

Reason: wie Salz und Pfeffer is not a separate clause; it’s just part of the noun phrase verschiedene Gewürze wie Salz und Pfeffer.

You would only use a comma if wie introduced a full clause, e.g.:

Er machte es so, wie er es immer macht.
(Here wie er es immer macht is a whole clause.)

Why is Küchentisch written as one word and capitalized?

Two reasons:

Compound noun:
- German loves compound nouns: you join two (or more) nouns into one long word.
- Küche (kitchen) + Tisch (table) → Küchentisch (kitchen table).
- Writing it as Küchen Tisch or Küchen-Tisch in normal text would be incorrect or at least very unusual.
Capitalization:
- All nouns in German are capitalized.
- Since Küchentisch is a noun, it must start with a capital letter: K, even in the middle of a sentence.

How would the sentence change if we said on the kitchen tables (plural) instead of on the kitchen table?

You would make both the article and the noun dative plural:

Auf den Küchentischen liegen verschiedene Gewürze wie Salz und Pfeffer.

Changes:

dem Küchentisch (dative singular, masculine)
→ den Küchentischen (dative plural)
The verb liegen stays the same, because the subject verschiedene Gewürze is still plural.

So this new sentence means: On the kitchen tables there are various spices such as salt and pepper.