"Πληρώνω το γεύμα."

Translation: I pay for the meal.

[Snekre]

Shouldn't 'I pay the meal' be accepted?

[Kags]

But that sounds like you're giving the money to the meal, rather than paying someone else (unspecified) for the meal.

[SophiaBend]

Is this correct? There's no need for a preposition?

[troll1995]

Yes it is. Could also be "Πληρώνω για το γεύμα" with a preposition but both are correct.

[Kadmos_Thebes]

Plus, if you mean something like "it's on me, my treat," there's a whole new verb for it: Κερνάω εγώ. The stress on εγώ.

Επιτρέψτε μου αυτή τη φορά να κεράσω εγώ.
Κερνάει ο Γιάννης. Έχει τα γενέθλιά του.

[jasonalcant]

So, what if the sentence were "Πληρώνω η γυναίκα."? Could that mean either "I pay the woman." or "I pay for the woman."?