Goûter ou goûter à

Question

what's the difference between the two please? I saw "tu peux y goûter?" which clearly took the preposition a but I would've said "tu peux le goûter?" Google hasn't helped me!

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Rhys,
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/go%C3%BBter
 
goûter à  --  to taste a dish (for the first time)
goûter  -- to try / sample before serving.
Bonne journée
Jim

Answer

The two are very similar in meaning. although there's a slight difference:

goûter à qqc. -- to try something (in the sense of sampling the taste)
gouter qqc. -- to taste something

Often times, they are used interchangeably. But one of the natives may have a better understanding.