section / paragraph
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section
A numbered section in a legal or official text, such as a law or contract. The symbol for it is §.
Laut Paragraph 242 des Bürgerlichen Gesetzbuches sind Verträge nach Treu und Glauben zu erfüllen.
According to Section 242 of the German Civil Code, contracts must be performed in good faith.
Careful: 'der Paragraph' (section) is not the same as the English 'paragraph'! In German, 'Paragraph' almost always means a numbered section in a law or contract (§). A normal section of text is called 'der Absatz' (paragraph).
Bitte lies den nächsten Absatz laut vor.
Please read the next paragraph aloud.
The symbol § is pronounced 'Paragraph' in German. So if you read '§ 1', you say 'Paragraph eins' (Section one).
Das steht in § 10 des Vertrags.
That is stated in § 10 of the contract.
When referring to a section, German often uses the preposition 'in' or 'laut' and leaves out the article. The number follows directly after the word.
Laut Paragraph 3 der Schulordnung ist das Rauchen verboten.
According to Section 3 of the school rules, smoking is prohibited.
In legal contexts, the word is often combined with certain verbs, for example 'sich auf einen Paragraphen berufen' (to invoke a section) or 'gegen einen Paragraphen verstoßen' (to violate a section).
Der Anwalt berief sich auf einen wenig bekannten Paragraphen.
The lawyer invoked a little-known section.
article
'der Artikel' and 'der Paragraph' can both mean a part of a law, contract, or official text. 'der Paragraph' is usually a numbered section with the symbol § and sounds typically legal. 'der Artikel' is more suitable for constitutions, treaties, or larger legal texts, but the word also has other meanings, for example a newspaper article or an item. Learners may confuse the words because both occur in legal texts. A practical tip: with §, you usually say 'Paragraph'; for parts of a constitution or treaty, 'Artikel' can be correct.
Vor der Reise lese ich den Paragraphen im Mietvertrag noch einmal genau.
Before the trip, I read the section in the rental agreement carefully once more.
Im Artikel 3 des Grundgesetzes steht, dass alle Menschen vor dem Gesetz gleich sind.
Article 3 of the Basic Law says that all people are equal before the law.