|80| Contract is formal insofar as the two acts of consent, through which the common will comes about — the negative moment of alienating a thing and the positive moment of accepting it — are distributed between the two contracting parties; — a contract of gift. It can, however, be called real insofar as each of the two contracting wills is the totality of these mediating moments, so that each thereby likewise becomes and remains an owner; — a contract of exchange.
To a contract belong two acts of consent regarding two things: namely, I wish to acquire property and to give it up. The real contract is one in which each party does the whole thing, gives up and acquires property and, in giving it up, remains owner; the formal contract is one in which only one party acquires or gives up property.
§ 76: Gift and exchange
Every contract needs two acts of consent. One person gives something up. The other accepts it.
In a gift, each side takes only one of these roles. One only gives, the other only takes. The grandmother gives her grandson a watch. She gives, he receives. This is a formal contract. It has the form of a contract, but only half the content.
In an exchange, it is different. Each gives and each gets. Each does both at once. So each remains an owner, even while giving something up. This is a real contract. In it, contract becomes fully real.
Summary: In a gift, one gives and the other takes. In an exchange, each does both. Only the exchange is a complete contract.
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