翻译英文合同需要注意的地方有哪些呢?我第一次翻译合同不太会啊,求有经验的人帮忙解答!

合同翻译是一种专业的翻译,翻译的时候一定要慎重,很多细节需要注意一下。你可以找专业的合同翻译公司---语美多翻译公司,帮助你翻译这些合同文件。一下是翻译英文合同注意的一些事项,你可以看下。

在英文合同翻译中,前提条件是弄懂合同的定义,包括合同中应有的基本要素。

第一,英文合同的定义

1.在英文中,合同一般称为Contract或者Agreement。

1999年中国《合同法》第二条将contract定义为:A contract in this Law refers to an agreement establishing,

modifying and terminating the civil rights and obligations between subjects of equal footing, that is, between

natural persons, legal persons or other organizations”。根据这一定义,合同平等主体之间设立的确定民事权利和义务的

协议。

Steven H. Gifts编著的“Law Dictionary”中将contract 定义为“Contract is a promise,or a set of promises,for

breach of which the law gives remedy,or the performance of the which the law in some way recognize as a duty.”根

据这一定义,合同是一种承诺,违反承诺可以得到法律救助,某种意义上法律将履行该承诺看作是一种补偿。

2. 合同的成立必须具备几个主要因素。

它们(要约和承诺构成的)由协议、约因、设立法律关系的愿望和缔约能力四大部分组成。

L.B Curzon编著的“A Diction of Law”提到:“Contract generally involves”

1. offer and absolute and unqualified acceptance (要约和绝对接受)

2. consensus ad idem (意思表示一致,也叫meeting of minds)

3. intention to create legal relations (建立合同关系的意愿)

4. genuineness of consent (同意的真实性)

5. contractual capacity of the parties (合同当事人的缔约能力)

6. legality of object(标的物的合法性)

7. possibility of performance (履行的可能性)

8. certainty of terms(条款的确定性)

9. valuable consideration(等价有偿)

第二,英文合同的结构特点

合同类法律文件用以规定当事人的权利与义务,是预防与解决争议的依据。合同英语行文缜密而准确,历史悠久,深含法律文

化底蕴。

中文的合同开头一般先罗列当事人的名称、姓名、住所或营业场所,然后是合同正文,结尾是当事人印章、授权代表签字、职

务及签字日期。而英语合同一般以下面这类句式为开头:

This agreement/contract is made and entered in to this ______day of______(month),______(year) by and between

Party A (hereinafter called “ Party A ”)and Party B(hereinafter called “ Party B ”)

然后是开始陈述:

WHEREAS...THEREFORE

... It is hereby agreed as follows:

或以:

WITNESSETH, WHEREAS...

NOW THEREFORE, for and in consideration of the mutual covenants and agreements contained herein, the parties

hereby covenant and agree as follows:

接着是正文,最后是证明部分:

IN WITNESS WHEREOF,the parties hereto have hereunto set their hands the day and years first above written.

随后还包括当事人和见证人的签字。签字日期一般在英文合同里搬弄是非是找不到的。

第三,英文合同翻译的用词特点(formal term)

合同英语的用词极其考究,具有特定性。要求选词专业化(professional)、正式(formal)、准确(accurate)。具体体现

在下列方面:

1. may,shall,must,may not(或shall not)的使用;may,shall, must,may not (或shall not)对学过英语的人来说再

熟悉不过了,但在合同中用这些词时要极其谨慎。

权利义务的约定部分构成了合同的主体。这几个词如选用不当,可能会引起纠纷。

may旨在约定当事人的权利(可以做什么),shall约定当事人的义务(应当做什么时候),must用于强制性义务(必须做什么

),may not (或shall not)用于禁止性义务(不得做什么)。may do不能说成can do,shall do,不能说成should do或ought to

do, may not do,在美国一些法律文件里可以用shall not,但绝不能用can not do或must not),例如,在约定解决争议的途径

时,可以说:

The parties here to shall, first of all, settle any dispute arising from or in connection with the contract

by friendly negotiations.

Should such negotiations fail, such dispute may be referred to the People’s Court having jurisdiction on

such dispute for settlement in the absence of any arbitration clause in the disputed contract or in default of

agreement reached after such dispute occurs.

本句中的shall和may表达准确。出现争议后应当先行协商,所以采用了义务性“约定”,如果协商解决不了,作为当事人的权

利,用选择性约定may也很妥当。如果may和shall调换位置会怎么样?前半句的shall换用may后,意思变成了当事人可以通过协商

解决,意思上说得过去,但后半句的may换用shall后,变成了应当诉讼解决,好像一出事,就要先见官,这就有些不友好了。

本句可译:双方首先应通过友好协商,解决因合同而发生的或与合同有关的争议。如果协商未果,合同中又无仲裁条款约定或争议

发生后未就仲裁达成***识的,可将争议提交给有管辖权的人民法院解决。

2.正式用语(formal term)

合同英语有着严肃的风格,与其它英语作品有着很大不同之处。

例如:

“因为”的短语多用“by virtue of ”,远远多于“due to”,一般不用“because of ”;

“财务年度末”一般用“at the close of the fiscal year”,而不用“in the end of the fiscal year”;

“在……之前”一般用“prior to”,而不用“before”;

“关于”常用“as regards”,“concerning”或“relating to”,而不会用“about”;

“事实上”用“in effect”,而不用“in fact”;

“开始”用“commencement”,而不用“start”或“begin”;

“停止做”用“cease to do”,而不用“stop to do”;

“何时开会并由某某主持”的表述为:The meeting shall be convened and presided by sb.

“其他事项”用“miscellaneous”,而不用“other matters/events”;

“理解合同”用“construe a contract”或“comprehend a contract”,而不用“understand a contract”;

“认为”用“deem”,用“consider”少,不用“think”或“believe”;

3.用词专业(technical terms)

合同用词不以大众是否理解和接受为转移,它是合同语言准确表达的保障。如合同出现的“瑕疵”、“救济”、“不可抗力”

、“管辖”、“损毁”、“灭失”等就可能让非行业人士费解,用以上英语表达分别为defect,remedy,force majeure /Act of

God,jurisdiction,damage and/or loss。另外几乎每个合同都少不了hereinafter referred to as ,such... as ,whereas,

in witness whereof, for and on behalf of , hereby, thereof 等虚词,就其中几个细说:

比如:

1. Hereby: by means of; by reason of this之意,即特此,因此,兹等意。常用于法律文件、合同协议的正式文件的开头

语,在条款中需要强调时也可用。举原文说明,如:The Employer hereby covenants to pay the Contractor in consideration

of the execution and completion of the Works and the remedying of defects therein the Contract Price or such other

sum as may become payable under the provisions of the Contract at the time and in the manner prescribed by the

Contract. 文中:

★hereby意为 by reason of this,特此的意思。

★ therein意为in the Works在本工程中。

★ such...as是关系代词,相当于that, which,把要限定的词置于such与as之间使要限定的名词十分明确,避免合同双方在

理解上发生争议。

其它的还有:

“赔偿”用“indemnities”,而不用“compensation”

“不动产转让”用“conveyance”,而不用“transfer of real estate”

“房屋出租”用“tenancy”,而“财产出租”用“lease of property”

“停业”用“wind up a business”或“cease (名词是cessation) a business”,而不用“end/stop a business”。

还款或专利申请的“宽限期”英文为“grace”,

“当事人在破产中的和解”用“composition”

“依照合同相关规定”一般说成“pursuant to provisions contained herein”或“as provided herein”等,不说成

“according to relevant terms and conditions in the contract”。

“合同任何一方当事人不得转让本合同”英文表述为“Neither party hereto may assign this contract”,其中“hereto

”表示“to the contract”,选用“Neither party to the contract”较少。

4.同义词、近义词、相关词的序列

FOR value RECEIVED,the undersigned does hereby sell, transfer, assign and set over to _____all his right,

tile and interest in and to a certain contract dated_____, 19 _____by and between the undersigned and _____,a

copy of which is annexed hereto.

在这里的同义词和近义词并列(如sell, transfer, assign and set over,right和 tile and interest),在英文合同里

十分普遍。这是出于严谨和杜绝漏洞的考虑,有的也属于合同用语的固定模式。如:

This agreement is made and entered into by and between Party A and Party B.句中“made and entered into”和“by

and between”两组分别属于同义词和相关词并列。

For and in consideration of mutual covenants and agreements contained herein, the parties hereby covenant and

agree as follows: 句中“for and in consideration of ”, “covenants and agreements”三组同义司和近义词并列。

The parties have agreed to vary the Management on the terms and subject to the conditions contained herein. 这

里的“on the terms”和“subject to the conditions”是一个意思,都表示“依照本协议的条款规定”。合同条款的固定模式

是“terms and conditions”

 再例如:“Party A wishes to be released and discharged from agreement as from the effective date”,一句中的

“release”和“discharge”的意思几乎相同。

并列的词还有:

ships and vessels

support and maintenance

licenses and permits

charges, fees, costs and expenses

any and all

any duties, obligations or liabilities

the partners, their heirs, successors and assigns

第四,英文合同翻译中的注意事项

实践证明,英文合同中容易出现差错的地方,一般来说不是大的陈述性条款,而恰恰是一些关键的细目。比如:金钱、时间、

数量等。为了避免出差错,在英译合同时,常常使用一些有限定作用的结构来界定细目所指定的确切范围。

A. 限定责任 众所周知,合同中要明确规定双方的责任。为英译出双方责任的权限与范围,常常使用连词和介词的固定结构。

现把最常用的此类结构举例说明如下。

1.1 and/or常用 and/or 英译合同中“甲和乙+甲或乙”的内容,这样就可避免漏译其中的一部分。

例1:如果上述货物对船舶和(或)船上其它货物造成任何损害,托运人应负全责。

The shipper shall be liable for all damage caused by such goods to the ship and/or cargo on board.

1.2 by and between

常用by and between强调合同是由“双方”签订的,因此双方必须严格履行合同的责任。例2:买卖双方同意按下述条款购买

出售下列商品并签订本合同。

This Contract is made by and between the Buyer and the Seller,whereby the Buyer agrees to buy and the Seller

agrees to sell the undermentioned commodity subject to the terms and conditions stipulated below.

B. 限定时间英译与时间有关的文字,都应非常严格慎重地处理,因为合同对时间的要求是准确无误。所以英译起止时间时,

常用以下结构来限定准确的时间。

2.1 双介词 用双介词英译含当天日期在内的起止时间。

例3:自9月20日起,甲方已无权接受任何定单或收据。

Party A shall be unauthorized to accept any orders or to collect any account on and after September 20.

例4:我公司的条件是,3个月内,即不得晚于5月1日,支付现金。

Our terms are cash within three months, i.e. on or before May 1.3.2.2 not (no) later than用“not (no) later

than +日期”英译“不迟于某月某日”。

例5:本合同签字之日一个月内,即不迟于12月15日,你方须将货物装船。

Party B shall ship the goods within one month of the date of signing this Contract, i.e. not later than

December 15.

2.2 include的相应形式

常用include的相应形式:inclusive、including和included来限定含当日在内的时间。

例6:本证在北京议付,有效期至1月1日。

This credit expires till January 1(inclusive) for negotiation in Beijing. (or This credit expires till and

including January 1 for negotiation in Beijing.) 如果不包括1月1日在内,英译为till and not including January 1。

3.1 大写文字重复金额英译金额须在小写之后,在括号内用大写文字重复该金额,即使原文合同中没有大写,英译时也必须加

上大写。在大写文字前加上“SAY”,意为“大写”;在最后加上“ONLY”意思为“整”。必须注意:小写与大写的金额数量要一

致。例7:聘方须每月付给受聘方美元500元整。

Party A shall pay Party B a monthly salary of US $ 500 (SAY FIVE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ONLY).

3.2. 正确使用货币符号

英译金额必须注意区分和正确使用各种不同的货币名称符号。“$”既可代表“美元”,又可代表其他某些地方的货币;而“

£”不仅代表“英镑”,又可代表其他某些地方的货币。必须注意:当金额用数字书写时,金额数字必须紧靠货币符号,例如:

Can $891,568,不能写成:Can $ 891,568。另外,翻译时还要特别注意金额中是小数点(.)还是分节号(,),因为这两个符号极

易引起笔误,稍有疏忽,其后果是不堪设想的。

综上所述,本文从英文合同的定义、结构特点、以及从英文合同翻译的用词特点、注意事项等四个方面着手,使我们对合同自

身的特点有了一定的了解,包括其构成的基本要素,在翻译过程中容易疏忽之处;从而为更好地做好英文合同翻译打下基础,并使

我们在合同翻译中能够得心应手。