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  2. French to English
  3. Business/Commerce (general)

une cause étrangère aux qualités intrinsèques des marchandises

English translation: a cause unrelated to the inherent qualities of the goods

11:18 Oct 14, 2019
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
Bus/Financial - Business/Commerce (general) / defects warranty
French term or phrase: une cause étrangère aux qualités intrinsèques des marchandises
Warranty for vehicle spare parts:

Cette garantie ne couvre pas les - défauts résultant d'une utilisation anormale ou fautive, d'une cause étrangère aux qualités intrinsèques des marchandises, de leur usures; - les dommages et les usures résultant d’une adaptation ou d’un montage spécial ou anormal ou intervenus après l’intervention d’un tiers; - les défauts et leurs conséquences liés à toute cause extérieure.

I thought at first this may be something to do with extraneous causes, but then that appears to be covered by the final exclusion.

I wondered also whether it could mean if the item is used outside its intended purpose, but that would probably be covered by "utilisation anormale". Maybe damage that doesn't affect the intrinsic ability of the item to function? Or....?
Wendy Cummings
United Kingdom
Local time: 20:25
English translation:a cause unrelated to the inherent qualities of the goods
Explanation:
'étranger' here means 'foreign to' (cf. 'foreign object/body' etc.) — but I don't think we'd naturally express it that way in EN, so perhaps 'unrelated to' (or 'not connected with') would be more natural.
I can see what they might means: not an entirely 'external cause', but a cause that has no direct connection with the inherent characteristics of the item.
Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:25
Grading comment
I can't actually think of any concrete examples of such "causes", but this is ultimately what the phrase says!
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6a cause unrelated to the inherent qualities of the goods
Tony M
3 -3if not used for its normal purpose
Ben Gaia


  

Answers


6 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
a cause unrelated to the inherent qualities of the goods


Explanation:
'étranger' here means 'foreign to' (cf. 'foreign object/body' etc.) — but I don't think we'd naturally express it that way in EN, so perhaps 'unrelated to' (or 'not connected with') would be more natural.
I can see what they might means: not an entirely 'external cause', but a cause that has no direct connection with the inherent characteristics of the item.

Tony M
France
Local time: 21:25
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 571
Grading comment
I can't actually think of any concrete examples of such "causes", but this is ultimately what the phrase says!
Notes to answerer
Asker: Hmm, maybe I was overthinking this one. That seems simple and logical!


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  AllegroTrans: well constructed
2 mins
  -> Thanks, C!
agree  Yvonne Gallagher
3 mins
  -> Thanks, Yvonne!
agree  Philippa Smith
28 mins
  -> Thanks, Philippa!
agree  Wolf Draeger: Insert preferred synonym for "qualities" ;-)
1 hr
  -> Thanks, Wolf! Yes, to some extent perhaps dependent on exactly WHAT this 'merchandize' actually is?
agree  Ph_B (X)
2 hrs
  -> Merci, Ph_B !
agree  Eliza Hall
3 hrs
  -> Thanks, Eliza!
disagree  Ben Gaia: Clunky as.
5 hrs
  -> I agree, but it's only really to help guide Asker to the underlying meaning.
agree  Daryo: maybe not exactly what would be the "standard" wording for a clause to that effect, but surely correct.
4 days
  -> Thanks, Daryo! Yes, I was only trying to help Asker unravel the meaning — after that, i'm sure they are more than capable of reformulating it properly!
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): -3
if not used for its normal purpose


Explanation:
Less clumsy than the rather clunky translation word for word and a common clause in such warranties.

Ben Gaia
New Zealand
Local time: 07:25
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Tony M: Yes, but that's already covered by the 'utilisation anormale ou fautive', for which this is close to being a 'standard' translation. / Well, it's closer in meaning to that than to the source expression here.
14 mins
  -> They don't mean the same thing.
disagree  AllegroTrans: your answer is only a subset of the circumstances in Tony's answer
6 hrs
  -> To an insurance assessor, perhaps. But it embodies the same meaning using "normal" as "intrinsic".
disagree  Daryo: "translating by statistics" is not a convincing method - "a common clause in such warranties" doesn't prove in any way that it fits for this specific ST
14 hrs
  -> I meant of course that this phrase is often rendered thus in English.
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