Antwort: 

anonymous, 2014-06-24, 11:55   Spam?  213.61.158...

Deutsches Kaufrecht - Abstraktionsprinzip
1 schuldrechtlicher Vertrag
+
2 sachenrechtliche Verträge (Übergang des Eigentums am Fahrzeug & Übereignung/Erbringung der Gegenleistung)

No such thing exists according to English law. Maybe reading up on this German concept helps too.

Chat:     

von sunfunlili (DE/GB), 2014-06-24, 12:38   Spam?  

Antwort: 

von Windfall (GB), Last modified: 2014-06-24, 13:12   Spam?  

Oh, I see, thanks both of you. In that case, perhaps:
The customer purchases the vehicle and owns and registers it.
(I'm not sure if that covers "zugelassen auf" properly)
or
The vehicle is purchased by, owned by and registered to the customer.
This keeps the passive, but I'm happy that "registered" works properly here.
By the way, I hope it doesn't make any difference that this is Swiss.

Antwort: 

von sunfunlili (DE/GB), 2014-06-24, 13:15   Spam?  

" ...  and registers it. "  - could be to "anybody", he only would pay for it ....

Antwort: 

von MichaelK (US), Last modified: 2014-06-24, 13:21   Spam?  

If the emphasis is on the customer, the active would indeed be better: The customer purchases the vehicle and registers it in his name.
Agree with anonymous--the German wording reflects the German abstraction principle which separates the purchase transaction into several distinct parts. IMO, there's no need for "own" in the English unless you are writing about that abstraction principle.

Antwort: 

von Windfall (GB), 2014-06-24, 13:25   Spam?  

I'm not writing about the abstraction principle, but I am translating a contract, so I'm wary about leaving out words.
I like that way of putting "registered to" in the active, but unfortunately the sentence is repeated several ti,es with various types of customer (in some cases lengthy descriptions of them) and some of these customer types could be his/her/its, which makes dealing with the "in the customer's name" issue rather messy in my context.

Chat:     

von MichaelK (US), 2014-06-24, 13:43   Spam?  

Understand. The problem is that the sale of a vehicle automatically transfers ownership in the mind of most English-language readers, so to mention such a transfer of ownership could look a bit odd. On the his-her issue: to skirt it, I used "customer" twice. Not very stylish, I know. :-)

Antwort: 

anonymous, 2014-06-24, 14:02   Spam?  213.61.158...

transfer ... just an explanation.

When translating a contract it is usually quite difficult to find a 1:1 translation for legal concepts set forth in the original contract. So I agree, it may be risky to leave out words or even change the original punctuation too much.
Hope this helps.

Antwort: 

von Windfall (GB), 2014-06-24, 14:05   Spam?  

Right, it can stay in the passive! It's not impossible to understand like that in English and it's less risky.

Antwort: 

von Lisa4dict loggedout, 2014-06-24, 14:56   Spam?  99.11.162....

What jurisdiction does the sale take place in?   In the US some dealers offer registration of vehicles for their customers or employ third party service providers.  So, before turning the passive into active it's worth checking who does what.
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/dealer_regservice.htm

Antwort: 

von Windfall (GB), 2014-06-24, 14:59   Spam?  

This is in Switzerland. I like "take possession of".

Chat:     

von sunfunlili (DE/GB), 2014-06-24, 16:53   Spam?  

Antwort: 

von Windfall (GB), 2014-06-24, 17:00   Spam?  

Oh dear, that's unlucky, as I sent it off already. Are you sure that "erwerben" specifically refers to Eigentum not Besitz? (Doubly unlucky, as in English once you have purchased something you own it, but whether you have taken possession of it is genuinely something different).

Antwort: 

von Lisa4dict loggedout, 2014-06-24, 17:24   Spam?  99.11.162....

purchasing sth. means you pay to gain ownership.  But AFAIK "Erwerben" also includes taking possession of the item purchased.

Chat:     

von Iriemon, 2014-06-24, 17:35   Spam?  80.144.122...

it's complicated... http://wdb.fh-sm.de/ETErwerbBeweglSachenBerechtigter

Chat:     

von sunfunlili (DE/GB), 2014-06-24, 18:23   Spam?  

because, he/she  purchased, is now in possession/owns it AND it is registered in his/her name .....

Chat:     

von sunfunlili (DE/GB), 2014-06-24, 18:25   Spam?  

"erwerben" refers to Eigentum and/or Besitz ....

Chat:     

von Iriemon, 2014-06-24, 18:42   Spam?  80.144.122...

not that this is of any help to Windfall.... after all this, I reckon her initial "acquire" would have been perfectly alright
http://dictionary.findlaw.com/definition/acquire.html

Antwort: 

von Windfall (GB), 2014-06-24, 19:38   Spam?  

4;Iriemon, it sounds a bit odd to purchase and acquire something, because "acquire" is generally used as a synonym of purchase.

Chat:     

von Iriemon, 2014-06-24, 23:04   Spam?  80.144.122...

4; Windfall. Yes, of course, but I just wondered whether it may have been suitable as the legal definition is as wishy washy as the German erwerben.

Antwort: 

von Windfall (GB), Last modified: 2014-06-25, 09:30   Spam?  

4;Iriemon "acquire" tends to take on context-specific meanings in English. Its meaning encompasses getting hold of/obtaining something without necessarily paying money for it (e.g. I acquired 3 cats can (but probably doesn't) mean I purchased 3 cats or can (and probably does) mean 3 cats just turned up at my house and I took them in or I was given 3 cats.
Company A acquired company B means company A purchased company B. It is highly unlikely to mean company A was given company B for free.
"To acquire" can also be used as a euphemism for "to steal" (in an appropriate context).
But once you've specified that you've purchased something, because you've specified how you obtained it (by paying money for it), acquire can't (IMHO) have a separate meaning from "purchase". If you wanted an non-purchase alternative you'd have to say "purchased or otherwise obtained by", but I don't think that's what they mean, which leaves you with "acquired by, taken possession/ownership of by".

Antwort: 

von Iriemon, 2014-06-25, 18:33   Spam?  80.144.100....

thanks Windfall. The general language meanings are known to me but I wasn't familiar with the legal meaning I found in the above legal link. Perhaps they were being imprecise.