Salz

salt

noun ZAHLTS Rare

Origin: from Proto-Germanic *saltą, related to Latin sal

Usage Note

Salz is the most fundamental seasoning in German cooking. Meersalz (sea salt), Steinsalz (rock salt), and Jodsalz (iodised salt) are standard options; Fleur de Sel is used as a finishing salt in refined cooking.

Examples

"Das Nudelwasser muss kräftig gesalzen sein — das ist das Geheimnis guter Pasta."

Natural Translation

The pasta water must be well salted — that is the secret of good pasta.

Literal Translation

The noodle water must strongly salted be — that is the secret good pasta.

Related Words

Explore German by topic

GermanNow

How to Memorize German Vocabulary Fast

Memorize German vocabulary fast with a five-step workflow: drill the top 100 words, learn nouns with their article, color-code gender, and use spaced repetition

June 5, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

German Days, Months & Seasons (am, im & -tag)

Days of the week in German use am, months and seasons use im — plus the -tag pattern, capitalized nouns, and how to build a real sentence with a day.

June 5, 2026 4 min read

GermanNow

German Compound Words: How to Read Any Long Word

Read any long German word by working right-to-left: the last noun sets the meaning and gender, and the small linking letters are just glue. Here's the drill.

June 9, 2026 6 min read

GermanNow

Wo, Wohin, Woher: Three Ways to Say Where

German splits where into three: wo (location), wohin (destination), and woher (origin). Learn the wo vs wohin rule, the hin/her logic, and common mistakes.

June 5, 2026 6 min read