Learn Hardcore German: Ohne Gewürze schmeckt die Suppe langweilig.

Element 1: Ohne Gewürze (a prepositional phrase moved to the front for emphasis)
Element 2: schmeckt (the finite verb, in second position)
Rest of the clause: die Suppe langweilig

If you start with the subject, you’d get:

Die Suppe schmeckt ohne Gewürze langweilig.

Same rule: Die Suppe (element 1) + schmeckt (element 2).

What case is Gewürze after ohne, and why?

The preposition ohne always takes the accusative case.

Nominative singular: das Gewürz (the spice)
Accusative plural: (ohne) Gewürze (without spices)

There’s no article here, so you only see the plural form Gewürze, but the case is accusative plural because of ohne.

Why is there no article before Gewürze? Could I say ohne die Gewürze?

Without an article, ohne Gewürze means “without spices” in general (no spices at all).

You can say ohne die Gewürze, but then you’re referring to specific spices that are known from context:

Ohne Gewürze – without any spices (in general)
Ohne die Gewürze – without the spices (the particular ones we talked about or see)

In everyday speech, ohne Gewürze is more natural here because the idea is general.

What’s the difference in meaning or emphasis between
Ohne Gewürze schmeckt die Suppe langweilig
and
Die Suppe schmeckt ohne Gewürze langweilig?

Both sentences mean essentially the same, but the focus shifts slightly.

Ohne Gewürze schmeckt die Suppe langweilig.
Puts the emphasis on the condition “without spices”. It’s like saying: When there are no spices, the soup tastes boring.
Die Suppe schmeckt ohne Gewürze langweilig.
Starts with die Suppe, so the focus is more on the soup and then adds that without spices, it’s boring.

Grammatically both are fine; the first one front‑loads the “without spices” part for emphasis or contrast.

Why can langweilig (boring) describe taste? In English we don’t say “the soup tastes boring” very often.

In German, langweilig is commonly used metaphorically for bland, uninteresting, not exciting in many contexts, including food.

Die Suppe schmeckt langweilig.
= The soup tastes dull / bland / boring.

English tends to prefer “bland,” “dull,” “boring” less often for literal taste; in German it’s very natural.

A more “culinary” synonym would be:

Die Suppe schmeckt fade. (The soup tastes bland / insipid.)

Could I say Die Suppe ist langweilig instead of schmeckt langweilig? What’s the difference?

Both are possible, but they focus on slightly different things.

Die Suppe schmeckt langweilig.
Talks specifically about the taste. The predicate adjective langweilig is tied to schmecken = to taste.
Die Suppe ist langweilig.
Is broader: it could be about the taste, the appearance, the whole experience. It’s more like “The soup is boring” in general.

If you want to be precise about flavor, schmeckt langweilig is the clearer choice.

What is the subject of the sentence, and is there any object?

Sentence: Ohne Gewürze schmeckt die Suppe langweilig.

Subject: die Suppe (nominative; the thing that “tastes”)
Verb: schmeckt
Predicate adjective: langweilig (describes the subject’s taste)
Prepositional phrase: ohne Gewürze (adverbial modifier: “in the absence of spices”)

There is no direct object here. Schmecken in this use is like to taste (intransitive) and works a bit like sein (“to be”) with a predicate adjective:

Die Suppe schmeckt gut.
Die Suppe ist gut.

Why is it die Suppe and not der Suppe or das Suppe?

German nouns have grammatical gender, which is mostly arbitrary and must be memorized.

die Suppe is feminine:
- Nominative singular: die Suppe
- Accusative singular: die Suppe

In the sentence, die Suppe is the subject (nominative), so we use die. Der Suppe would be dative or genitive; das Suppe is simply wrong because Suppe is not neuter.

Why is there no comma after Ohne Gewürze?

Ohne Gewürze is just a prepositional phrase at the beginning of a simple main clause, not a separate clause.

German does not put commas between:

A fronted adverbial/prepositional phrase and
The rest of a single main clause.

So:

Ohne Gewürze schmeckt die Suppe langweilig. ✅
Ohne Gewürze, schmeckt die Suppe langweilig. ❌ (comma is wrong here)

Can I put langweilig before schmeckt, like Ohne Gewürze langweilig schmeckt die Suppe?

No, that word order is not natural German.

The finite verb must be in second position in main clauses.
The predicate adjective (here, langweilig) normally comes after the verb and the subject in this pattern.

Standard patterns are:

Ohne Gewürze schmeckt die Suppe langweilig.
Die Suppe schmeckt ohne Gewürze langweilig.
Die Suppe schmeckt langweilig ohne Gewürze. (possible, but unusual and marked for emphasis)

Ohne Gewürze langweilig schmeckt die Suppe sounds wrong to a native speaker.

Could I say Ohne Gewürze schmeckt die Suppe nicht gut instead? Is it the same?

Yes, Ohne Gewürze schmeckt die Suppe nicht gut is correct and natural, but there’s a nuance:

langweilig: positively states a quality – boring, dull, bland.
nicht gut: just negates “good” – it doesn’t taste good, but that could mean many things (too salty, weird, etc.), not specifically bland.

So:

… schmeckt langweilig. → specifically boring/bland.
… schmeckt nicht gut. → just not good; less specific.

Could I use mit keinen Gewürzen instead of ohne Gewürze?

You could say:

Mit keinen Gewürzen schmeckt die Suppe langweilig.

It’s grammatically correct, but it sounds more complicated and less natural than ohne Gewürze. In German, ohne is the standard way to express absence:

ohne Zucker (without sugar)
ohne Fleisch (without meat)
ohne Gewürze (without spices)

Mit keinen Gewürzen is often used if you want to contradict someone or emphasize the “no”:

Mit Gewürzen schmeckt sie gut. – With spices, it tastes good.
Mit keinen Gewürzen schmeckt sie langweilig. – With no spices, it tastes boring. (strong emphasis on no)