CENGOLIO

Cengolio · Notes

The notes

Every entry is a translator's note on where the German choice makes a decision your English original never made. 66 notes so far, growing daily.

A
act Gesetz Gesetz where the Act is a statute, Handlung where the act is conduct, Tun oder Unterlassen in the doublet. Akte and Akt are the traps, one is a file, the other belongs to the theatre, and the syllable carries law only inside compounds like the Verwaltungsakt, § 35 VwVfG. Law agent Vertreter Vertreter for the person who acts for another, Handelsvertreter, § 84 HGB, for the commercial agent, and Agent for spies and pop stars. The doctrine underneath does not cross either, German agency is open-faced, § 164 BGB, whoever hides the principal binds himself, the undisclosed principal of English law has no German seat. Law appeal Berufung Berufung against the judgment, Revision on the law alone, Beschwerde against a Beschluss, the German ladder splits what English climbs with one word. Appell is a speech, not a remedy, and das Urteil appellieren is a verb German procedure does not own. Law assignment ● Abtretung Abtretung moves claims and nothing else, § 398 BGB. The moment an English assignment clause covers rights and obligations, German needs more machinery, duties pass only by Schuldübernahme with the creditor’s approval, the whole contract only by Vertragsübernahme with everyone at the table. Law
B
bankruptcy Insolvenz Insolvenz, one word for the one modern procedure. Konkurs, the machine’s frequent offer, has been dead law since 1999, and a German text that says Konkursverfahren dates itself. The English split between corporate insolvency and personal bankruptcy has no German mirror, the InsO runs both. Law breach of contract Pflichtverletzung Pflichtverletzung, the word § 280 Abs. 1 BGB pleads with, Vertragsverletzung where prose wants the contract in the word, Vertragsbruch in headlines, not in commercial drafting. And the vocabulary is the smaller half, English breach carries liability by itself, the German claim adds Vertretenmüssen, presumed against the debtor but open to rebuttal. Law
C
company Gesellschaft Gesellschaft for the legal person, Firma only for its name, § 17 HGB, Unternehmen for the business as such. Colloquial German blurs all three and machine output follows, but legal German keeps them apart, and the name is not harmless, whoever continues the Firma can inherit the old debts, § 25 HGB. Law court order Beschluss Beschluss for the court order, § 329 ZPO, Anordnung where the court directs a step, and never Bestellung, that word buys office supplies. German decisions come in three forms, Urteil, Beschluss, Verfügung, and which one arrived decides which attack lies, the Beschwerde of § 567 ZPO belongs to Beschlüsse. Law
D
damages Schadensersatz Schadensersatz, the claim, not Schäden, the harm. English marks the remedy with nothing but the plural, German gives it a word of its own, and a rendering that says Schäden turns the money claim back into the injury. Law deed Deed No German instrument answers to it, so the honest rendering keeps Deed and explains, German practice does. Urkunde says only document, Tat says an act of heroism, and the work a deed does in England, binding a promise by form alone, is done in Germany by the notarielle Beurkundung. Law default ● Verzug Verzug is narrower than default and arrives with conditions attached, § 286 BGB wants a due claim, usually a Mahnung, and a debtor at fault, § 286 Abs. 4 BGB. English default triggers on the miss alone, so the reflex rendering quietly postpones every remedy until the German prerequisites are met. Law defendant Beklagter Beklagter in the civil action, Angeklagter only in the criminal dock. English uses defendant across the divide, German never does, and a machine that writes Angeklagter in a contract dispute has, in one word, accused the counterparty of a crime. Law director Geschäftsführer Geschäftsführer in a GmbH, Vorstandsmitglied in an AG, Aufsichtsratsmitglied where the director supervises rather than manages. Direktor, the machine’s offer, is a courtesy title in German business and no organ at all, and the two-tier system behind the words has no single English mirror. Law
E
entire agreement vollständige Vereinbarung Vollständige Vereinbarung in the sentence, Vollständigkeitsklausel as the clause’s German name. And the promise travels smaller than it looks, § 305b BGB lets individually agreed terms outrank standard ones, so the boilerplate cannot lock the door the English drafter thinks it locks. Law equity Equity No German word holds it. Where equity names the second English system of law, keep the English word, German comparative writing does. Eigenkapital is right only for the capital sense, and Billigkeit, the reflex, reduces a body of law to a feeling for fairness. Law escrow Treuhandkonto Treuhandkonto for the account, Notaranderkonto where a notary holds the stakes, Escrow kept in brackets where the English mechanics matter. Hinterlegung is the false friend with a statute behind it, §§ 372 ff. BGB, a debtor’s one-sided deposit at a public office, not a closing tool. Law evidence Beweis Beweis for the proof, Beweismittel for the instruments, and German procedure runs the instruments as a closed canon in the Strengbeweis. Evidenz, the machine’s modern reflex, means self-evidence and study grades, and the hearsay objection the English reader reaches for does not exist, § 286 ZPO lets the judge weigh freely. Law execution Unterzeichnung Unterzeichnung when the contract is being signed, Vollstreckung when a judgment is being enforced, and never Ausführung for the signing, that word means performance. Execution wears three hats in English, and the machine reliably grabs the wrong one for the signature block. Law
F
fiduciary duty Treuepflicht Treuepflicht, the corporate duty of loyalty, with the Sorgfaltspflicht of § 93 AktG and § 43 GmbHG as its statutory sibling for care. Treuhänderische Pflicht is the reflex rendering and points at trust administration, a German corporate lawyer reads it and reaches for the English original. Law frustration Störung der Geschäftsgrundlage Störung der Geschäftsgrundlage, § 313 BGB, or Unmöglichkeit, § 275 BGB, depending on which half of the English doctrine is in play. Frustration as a German word is a feeling, not a doctrine, and the machine writes it anyway. Law
G
good faith Treu und Glauben Treu und Glauben for the standard of conduct, guter Glaube for the state of mind. English good faith covers both, German keeps two institutions apart, and the machine reaches for the belief where the text meant the behaviour. Law governing law anwendbares Recht Anwendbares Recht, and the object of the choice is a Rechtsordnung, not its statutes. Governed by the laws of England reads unterliegt englischem Recht, never den Gesetzen Englands, a legal order includes its case law, and the Gesetze version quietly shrinks it. Law guarantee ● Bürgschaft Bürgschaft if the promisor stands behind someone else’s debt and falls with it, Garantie if the promise is meant to stand on its own. Machine output says Garantie almost without exception, and the German word strips the guarantor of form, accessoriness and the debtor’s defences in one move. Law
H
hearing mündliche Verhandlung Mündliche Verhandlung for the court hearing, der Termin for the date itself, Anhörung only where someone is being heard rather than the case being tried, § 28 VwVfG, Art. 103 GG. The machine’s Anhörung moves the lawsuit into an administrative corridor. Law
I
indemnity ● Freistellung Freistellung, the claim to be kept clear of a liability before it is paid. Entschädigung, the reflex rendering, quietly moves the trigger from exposure to loss, the client is reimbursed after the damage instead of shielded from the claim. Law injunction einstweilige Verfügung Einstweilige Verfügung for the interim order, §§ 935, 940 ZPO, Unterlassungsanspruch and Unterlassungsurteil where the injunction is final. German splits the remedy into a substantive claim and a fast procedure, and the machine’s habit of making everything einstweilig turns permanent orders provisional. Law interest Zinsen Zinsen when money earns money, ein Recht or eine Beteiligung when the interest is proprietary, Interesse only for concern. And the money sense carries a German wall the English clause never sees, § 248 BGB voids compound interest agreed in advance, narrow statutory exceptions aside. Law
J
joint and several liability gesamtschuldnerische Haftung Gesamtschuldnerische Haftung, one German institution for the English doublet, each debtor liable for the whole and the creditor chooses, § 421 BGB. Translating joint and several piecewise, gemeinsam und einzeln, produces a formula no German statute knows. Law jurisdiction Zuständigkeit Zuständigkeit, or the agreed Gerichtsstand, when a contract says which court may hear the case. Gerichtsbarkeit is the sovereignty word, Rechtsordnung the place word, and the engine’s favourite, Gerichtsbarkeit, answers a question the clause never asked. Law
L
lease Mietvertrag Mietvertrag for use, Pachtvertrag where the tenant also takes the fruits, § 581 BGB, the running restaurant, the farm, the business. Leasing stays Leasing for the finance product, and the English leasehold, ownership sliced by time, has no German twin, the distant cousin is the Erbbaurecht. Law liability Haftung Haftung for the exposure, Verbindlichkeiten for the debts, and the plural is the tell, English liabilities are almost always Verbindlichkeiten, not Haftungen. § 13 Abs. 2 GmbHG uses both correctly in one sentence, for the company’s Verbindlichkeiten only the company’s assets haften. Law lien ● Pfandrecht Two German rights hide under the one English word. Pfandrecht, the security interest that lets the holder sell, Zurückbehaltungsrecht, the defence that only lets him keep. Machine output says Pfandrecht by reflex, and the upgrade matters most on the day of insolvency. Law limitation period Verjährungsfrist Verjährungsfrist, and the German clock runs on its own rules, three years as the default, § 195 BGB, starting only at the end of the year, § 199 BGB, and paused by mere negotiations, § 203 BGB. Statut, the tempting half of statute of limitations, is taken, in German it means governing law or a company’s constitution. Law liquidated damages ● Vertragsstrafe Vertragsstrafe if the clause exerts pressure on performance, pauschalierter Schadensersatz if it merely fixes the expected loss. German law enforces both, the void English penalty has no German twin. Law loan Darlehen Darlehen, § 488 BGB, and the word leihen is a trap with a definition inside, the German Leihe of § 598 BGB is gratuitous by statute, so an interest-bearing facility rendered as Leihvertrag names a contract that cannot legally charge the interest it contains. Law
M
merger Verschmelzung Verschmelzung in the transaction documents, §§ 2 ff. UmwG, Fusion in merger control and headlines. The UmwG word carries the mechanics the English reader needs to see, universal succession on registration, § 20 UmwG, assets and debts crossing in one stroke and the transferring entity ceasing to exist. Law misrepresentation ● arglistige Täuschung German law splits what English keeps whole. Arglistige Täuschung, § 123 BGB, only where the maker lied knowingly, everything below that threshold runs as a breach of pre-contractual duty, culpa in contrahendo, with damages instead of avoidance. Law mortgage Grundschuld Grundschuld is what the German market writes, Hypothek is what the dictionary says. The English mortgage is accessory by instinct, the German practice instrument is not, § 1191 BGB, it hangs on a Sicherungsvertrag instead of on the loan, and the machine’s Hypothek describes a security German banks stopped drafting a generation ago. Law
N
negligence Fahrlässigkeit Fahrlässigkeit for the grade of fault, objectively measured, § 276 Abs. 2 BGB. But negligence also names a tort, and there the twin ends, German law has no Fahrlässigkeitsklage, the claim runs on § 823 BGB and its list of protected interests, with pure economic loss standing outside the door. Law notarisation ● notarielle Beurkundung Notariell beurkundet or notariell beglaubigt, and the gap between the two words is § 125 BGB, nullity. Beurkundung is the full ceremony, content, advice and record, § 128 BGB, § 17 BeurkG, Beglaubigung merely certifies a signature, § 129 BGB, and the machine reaches for the smaller word where the deal needs the larger one. Law notice Mitteilung Mitteilung for the communication, Kündigungsfrist for the period, Kenntnis for what someone is on notice of. And the mechanics matter more than the noun, German notices work on receipt, § 130 BGB, dispatch achieves nothing by itself, so the Notices clause is the parties’ answer to the Zugangsrisiko, not boilerplate. Law
P
partnership Personengesellschaft Personengesellschaft as the genus, OHG for the general partnership, KG for the limited one, and hands off Partnerschaft, German law gave that word to a specific vehicle for the liberal professions, the PartG. A trading partnership rendered as Partnerschaft has been filed under the wrong statute. Law performance Erfüllung Leistung for what is owed, § 241 BGB, Erfüllung when performing it extinguishes the obligation, § 362 BGB, Durchführung for carrying the contract out. Aufführung is the stage and Performance the HR review, and a contract whose performance arrives as Aufführung has been sent to the theatre. Law provision Bestimmung Bestimmung for the clause, and hands off the identical twin, die deutsche Provision is a commission, § 87 HGB, while Rückstellung, the accounting sense, § 249 HGB, waits one register away. Die Provisionen dieses Vertrages is sales pay, not boilerplate. Law
R
remedy Rechtsbehelf Rechtsbehelf, the umbrella for what a party can do about a breach, Anspruch where one enforceable claim is meant. Never Rechtsmittel, that German word exists and is taken, it names the appeal against a judgment, and the false friend moves the sentence from contract law into the courtroom. Law rescission ● Anfechtung Anfechtung, the attack on a contract flawed at its making, mistake, deceit or duress, void from the very beginning under § 142 Abs. 1 BGB. Rücktritt is the breach exit and unwinds only from now on, and the engines reach for it, moving the defect from the contract’s birth to its performance. Law resolution Beschluss Beschluss for the corporate act, gefasst, nicht verabschiedet, Streitbeilegung where the resolution resolves disputes. Resolution as a German word belongs to the UN corridor, and the substance behind Beschluss surprises twice, defective resolutions split into void and merely challengeable, §§ 241, 243 AktG, and the challenge window is one month, § 246 AktG. Law
S
securities Wertpapiere Wertpapiere when securities are instruments, § 2 WpHG, Sicherheiten when security is collateral, and the plural crossing is the classic wreck, transferable securities arriving as übertragbare Sicherheiten. § 232 BGB shows both worlds meeting in one sentence, security can be provided by depositing Wertpapiere. Law service of process Zustellung Zustellung, the formal delivery that starts clocks and binds courts, §§ 166 ff. ZPO. Service in this sense has nothing to do with Dienstleistungen, and the process agent the English clause appoints is in German a Zustellungsbevollmächtigter. Law set-off Aufrechnung Aufrechnung, the unilateral set-off of §§ 387 ff. BGB, declared, not agreed, and striking backwards, § 389 BGB extinguishes both claims from the moment they first faced each other. Verrechnung is the bookkeeping cousin, the agreed netting of a running account. Law settlement Vergleich Vergleich, and the German word has an entrance test, § 779 BGB wants gegenseitiges Nachgeben, no mutual concessions, no Vergleich. In full and final settlement is Abgeltungs-German, zur Abgeltung sämtlicher Ansprüche, and a court-recorded Vergleich is itself an enforcement title, § 794 ZPO. Law severability clause salvatorische Klausel Salvatorische Klausel, the fixed German name with a century of drafting practice behind it. Coinages like Trennbarkeitsklausel exist only in translations, and the clause works against a German default the English reader should know, § 139 BGB presumes that part-invalid means all-invalid. Law shall ist verpflichtet German contracts state duties in the present tense, der Verkäufer liefert, or say ist verpflichtet outright. Soll, the machine’s reflex for shall, sits a register below muss, in German legal usage a Soll rule is the rule with built-in exceptions, and every hard English duty comes out one notch weaker. Law share capital Stammkapital Stammkapital in a GmbH, § 5 GmbHG, Grundkapital in an AG, § 7 AktG, the Rechtsform names its own capital, and Aktienkapital is the Swiss word wandering north in machine output. Behind the naming sits the system, capital maintenance, § 30 GmbHG, § 57 AktG, a payout wall the distributable-reserves instinct underestimates. Law shares ● Geschäftsanteile Geschäftsanteile in a GmbH, Aktien only in an AG, and the machine says Aktien for every share. The word carries a form cliff, transferring Geschäftsanteile takes a notary, § 15 Abs. 3 GmbHG, even the promise to transfer does, Abs. 4, while Aktien change hands without notarial form. Law specific performance Erfüllung Erfüllung, and note the inversion, what English law grants as an exceptional, discretionary remedy is the German default. § 241 Abs. 1 BGB makes performance the primary claim, so German has no marked word for it, routine rights do not get special names. Law subrogation Forderungsübergang Forderungsübergang, the claim passing by operation of law, cessio legis. German has the mechanism all over its statutes, § 86 VVG for the insurer, § 774 BGB for the surety, what it does not have is the imported word Subrogation, which names no German norm. Law
T
termination ● Kündigung One English exit, three German doors. Kündigung ends a continuing contract for the future, Rücktritt unwinds an exchange back to the start, Aufhebung ends it by mutual agreement, and which door the translation picks decides what happens to everything already performed. Law time is of the essence Fixgeschäft Fixgeschäft is the German frame the clause is reaching for, timely performance made essential with an immediate exit attached, § 323 Abs. 2 Nr. 2 BGB, § 376 HGB between merchants. The word-for-word rendering, die Zeit ist von wesentlicher Bedeutung, is a proverb, not a clause. Law title Eigentum Eigentum for ownership, Rechtsinhaberschaft where the right is not a thing, never Titel. The German Titel exists and means something else, the instrument a judgment is enforced from, so the false friend does not merely miss, it points at the wrong branch of law. Law trust Treuhand No German institution matches the trust, so every rendering is a decision. Treuhand is the working equivalent for function, but it carries none of the split ownership, and in German practice the honest choice is often to keep the English word. Law
V
void nichtig Nichtig for void, anfechtbar for voidable, and a third state English has no name for, schwebend unwirksam, the deal hanging until someone ratifies, §§ 108, 177 BGB. Ungültig is the layman’s word and annullierbar the machine’s, neither carries the doctrine. Law
W
warranty ● Gewährleistung Gewährleistung for the statutory liability for defects, Garantie only where someone promises more on top. The wrong pick turns a routine clause into strict liability. Law whereas Präambel Präambel is where the recitals go, German contracts open with Vorbemerkung or Präambel and do not head their recitals with a conjunction. Wohingegen is what the machine writes, a mid-sentence contrast word, and a contract that begins WOHINGEGEN has translated the typography and lost the genre. Law without prejudice unbeschadet Two phrases share one skin. Without prejudice to a right is unbeschadet, and the machine usually gets that right. Without prejudice on a settlement letter is an evidentiary privilege, and German law has no equivalent, ohne Präjudiz is a gesture, not a shield. Law witness Zeuge Zeuge for the person, and the English habit of witnessed signatures has no home in German contract form, § 126 BGB runs on signatures and notaries, not on attestation. In witness whereof is Zu Urkund dessen, and the machine’s Zeugnis-versions close the contract like a school report. Law