warranty
noun · 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.
Which translation, when
Why
English drafting uses warranty for almost any contractual assurance. German law splits the ground: Gewährleistung is the statutory regime for defects, it applies by default and needs no promise, while Garantie is a voluntary undertaking on top, § 443 BGB, and it binds without fault. A German reader who sees Garantie may claim as if the seller had guaranteed the result. So the German word is a decision about exposure, not about style.
Typical mistakes
- Gesetzliche Garantie is translation residue, the statutory regime is called Gewährleistung and a German lawyer stumbles over the phrase.
- Garantie promises liability without fault, § 443 BGB. Writing it where the English text meant an ordinary warranty widens the exposure of the client.
What matters
A sale and purchase agreement full of representations and warranties: render warranty as Garantie and the seller may answer for results nobody promised, render it as Gewährleistung and the statutory regime with its limitation periods applies.
What the machine misses
Machine output flips warranty between Gewährleistung and Garantie from sentence to sentence, and every Garantie it plants promises liability without fault that the English draft never contained.
Examples
| warranty claims | Gewährleistungsansprüche |
| the warranty period | die Gewährleistungsfrist |