Aktien

English translation: stock or shares

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
German term or phrase:Aktien
English translation:stock or shares
Entered by: Marcus Malabad

11:43 Jun 2, 2007
German to English translations [PRO]
Bus/Financial - Investment / Securities
German term or phrase: Aktien
Aktien = shares in English and stock in American English

My text is for an American audience and I have so far used stock. However, I have noticed that American newspapers do not always say stock for shares in European companies they say shares for European companies.

If I am describing to an American audience the shares in a German company ABC GmbH which are to be transferred to another German company XYZ GmbH as part of a takeover do I use the American term stock or stick with shares as I am talking about a German company??
Christine Andrews (X)
Local time: 18:03
stock or shares
Explanation:
In AE, stock is "generally" (but not always) used to mean Aktien in a more general sense (collective noun); shares is generally used for Aktien as "units".

It has nothing to do with whether the company is American or European.

But they can often be used interchangeably. Either term is perfectly understandable to a US reader (BTW - I used to be a "stock" broker so I am more than familiar with the usage)

Best illustrated with examples

I own Dell stock. (not shares)
I own 100 shares of Dell stock
I sold my Dell stock
I sold my Dell shares
I sold half my shares in Dell
I sold half my Dell stock/shares.
Dell's share price fell 10% in heavy trading (share because "per" is implicit)
The price of Dell stock fell 10% in heavy trading

ABC AG will transfer all of its shares in XYZ in exchange for ... (I would tend to use shares here and not stock but stock is not "wrong")

ABC will buy back 5% of its stock for its new employee share/stock ownership program

Sorry if I can't give you a hard and fast rule, but that's English for you.
Selected response from:

Ted Wozniak
United States
Local time: 13:03
Grading comment
Ted, thank you for your long reply. I was reluctant to ask such a simple question at first but I am glad that I did
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +3stock or shares
Ted Wozniak


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


39 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +3
Aktien (here)
stock or shares


Explanation:
In AE, stock is "generally" (but not always) used to mean Aktien in a more general sense (collective noun); shares is generally used for Aktien as "units".

It has nothing to do with whether the company is American or European.

But they can often be used interchangeably. Either term is perfectly understandable to a US reader (BTW - I used to be a "stock" broker so I am more than familiar with the usage)

Best illustrated with examples

I own Dell stock. (not shares)
I own 100 shares of Dell stock
I sold my Dell stock
I sold my Dell shares
I sold half my shares in Dell
I sold half my Dell stock/shares.
Dell's share price fell 10% in heavy trading (share because "per" is implicit)
The price of Dell stock fell 10% in heavy trading

ABC AG will transfer all of its shares in XYZ in exchange for ... (I would tend to use shares here and not stock but stock is not "wrong")

ABC will buy back 5% of its stock for its new employee share/stock ownership program

Sorry if I can't give you a hard and fast rule, but that's English for you.

Ted Wozniak
United States
Local time: 13:03
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 103
Grading comment
Ted, thank you for your long reply. I was reluctant to ask such a simple question at first but I am glad that I did

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Andras Malatinszky: Right on. Stock is the collective noun and share is the unit. Since a company's stock is the collection of its shares, stock and shares are interchangeable in many contexts, kind of like 'leaves' and 'foliage'.
31 mins

agree  John Farebrother: yes, but it's not an exclusive collective, you can still say shares. its's not a criticism, just an observation. Stock can also mean a company's capital.
44 mins
  -> I never said it was exclusive. See my examples

agree  Ann Marie Ackermann, JD: I'm a former American lawyer and both terms are used in the US-American justice system. Ted has it right.
3 hrs

neutral  Axel Seyler (X): Your answer is correct for the specific question asked. But the explanatio given, shows that we are dealing with the shares (Anteile) of a GmbH. They are somewhat like partnerhip shares -no certificate issued for them. "Share" is the usual translation.
4 hrs
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