I'm actually learning 味をつける which is translated by : to bring taste. But when
I looked it up on jisho.org, it was also translated by : 利かせる. I just want to
know if there is any difference or if one is more used than the other. Thank
you !
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2018-02-25T23:12:11.633
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2018-02-26T02:30:57.790
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question
word-choice usage
Difference between 利かせる and 味をつける
BにAを利かせる is like "take A (effect) on B. AにBをつける is like attach B to A . Could
you see that ? What make it different is nothing as native speaker. We can use
that two expressions equally .
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2018-02-26T01:10:38.280
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2018-02-26T01:10:38.280
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(～に)味をつける means using salt, sugar, pepper, miso, ketchup and so on to give a
flavor. 味付け is also a common word.

利く means something like "(for a thing) to do its job". この料理は塩が利いている means the
dish is salty (and delicious). 塩を利かせる means "to make salt do its job" or
simply "to salt something". ～に塩味を付ける and ～に塩を利かせる are both common and roughly
the same, but the latter has the connotation of "and make it more delicious".
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2018-02-26T01:46:29.907
56886
2018-02-26T01:46:29.907
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For one thing, 味をつける 'add flavor' is a object + verb construction while 利かせる
is just a verb. So maybe we should be instead comparing the verbs つける and 利かせる
in the context of adding flavor/seasoning.

But anyway, if you want to talk about seasoning using 味をつける, you may use a
に-phrase to refer to the food/dish to which flavor is added, and で-phrase to
the particular seasoning with which it is flavored. E.g.:

> [煮物]{にもの}に[醤油]{しょうゆ}で味をつける 'add flavor to the stew with soy sauce'

You can swap the object "味" for a more specific taste-related noun. E.g.:

> [唐辛子]{とうがらし}で[辛味]{からみ}をつける 'add spiciness with chili pepper'

As for the verb 利かせる (literally, 'make (something) effective'), the relevant
meaning here is, say, "to give (a specific taste or flavor) to a dish in a
pronounced way". Being a transitive verb (like "つける"), it takes nouns for
tastes as its object, and, optionally, a に-phrase and で-phrase for extra
information (just like "つける"!). Thus:

> 唐辛子でスープに辛味を利かせる "give (a pronounced) spiciness to the soup with chilli
> pepper"

Alternatively, 利かせる can take as its object a noun referring to a seasoning
rather than a taste, in which case it means something along the lines of, "to
add (a seasoning) to a dish in a rather generous amount so that its flavor is
pronounced":

> スープに唐辛子を利かせる 'add a fair amount of chili pepper to the soup (So it's hot!)'
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2018-02-26T02:30:57.790
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2018-02-26T02:30:57.790
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answer