cheque
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cheque
A written means of payment with which you instruct your bank to pay a certain amount of money from your own account to a specific person or company. Used less often today than in the past.
Er bezahlte die Rechnung für das Auto mit einem Scheck über 10.000 Euro.
He paid the bill for the car with a cheque for 10,000 euros.
'Der Scheck' means only the means of payment (cheque). It is not the same as the English verb 'to check' ('prüfen', 'kontrollieren' — to check/inspect) or the noun 'check' in other contexts (e.g. the bill in a restaurant).
Können Sie bitte die Rechnung kontrollieren?
Could you please check the bill?
Certain verbs are used with 'Scheck': You 'stellt einen Scheck aus' (write/issue a cheque), 'löst einen Scheck ein' (cash a cheque/get the money at the bank), or 'bezahlt mit Scheck' (pay by cheque).
Sie müssen den Scheck persönlich bei Ihrer Bank einlösen.
You have to cash the cheque in person at your bank.
To indicate the amount of money on a cheque, German uses the preposition 'über' followed by the accusative. For example: 'ein Scheck über 500 Euro' (a cheque for 500 euros).
Er erhielt einen Scheck über eine hohe Summe.
He received a cheque for a large sum.
Payment by cheque is very uncommon in Germany and many other European countries today. In everyday life, bank transfers, card payments, or cash are used almost exclusively.
Mein Großvater bezahlt manchmal noch mit Scheck, aber das ist selten geworden.
My grandfather still sometimes pays by cheque, but that has become rare.
change / switch
'der Wechsel' and 'der Scheck' can be confused in the financial context because both can be written means of payment or payment instructions. However, this meaning of 'Wechsel' is outdated and hardly common in everyday language today. 'der Scheck' is a written means of payment that tells a bank to pay money from your own account. When people today talk about a paper used for payment, they usually mean 'Scheck'. In everyday language, 'Wechsel' is much more often understood as a change, switch, or exchange, not as a financial instrument.
Der Kunde bezahlte die große Rechnung mit einem Scheck.
The customer paid the large bill with a cheque.
Der alte Kaufmann erklärte, wie früher ein Wechsel als Zahlungsversprechen genutzt wurde.
The old merchant explained how a bill of exchange used to be used as a promise of payment.