Linguistic Pecularities Of Contracts in English

All expenses connected therewith being born by… (therewith = with it)

The examination of the goods and objection thereto… (thereto = to it)

Subject to General Conditions on Sale endorsed hereon… (hereon = on this document)

The goods to be shipped as soon thereafter as suitable tonnage obtainable. (thereafter = from that time)

The Sellers shall not be responsible for any damage resulting to the Buyers therefrom. (therefrom = from it / them)

Hereinafter is a very useful word, doing the job of the six, referred to later in a document. Hereinafter frequently sets up abbreviated names for the contracting parties. e.g. Knightsbridge International Drapes, Ltd. hereinafter the

Buyer.

The wood goods hereinafter specified subject to a variation in

Sellers’ option of 20 per cent.

The aforesaid is a clichй which is more preferable in texts of contracts instead of its less formal equivalents: the above-mentioned, the above-written, as was written / said before, and the like. e.g. The aforesaid documents should contain references…

The aforesaid guarantee shall end for the following vehicles…It is understood and agreed. On one hand it usually adds nothing, because every clause in the contract is figurally understood and agreed. On the other hand, it adds an implication that the other clauses are not backed up by this phrase. By including one you exclude the other. e.g. The prices in this contract are understood and agreed upon.

The delivery date is understood and agreed to be the date…

Including without limitation. Usually people want to specify things underscored in contracts, and this phrase indulges the prediction. e.g. You may assign any and all your rights including without limitation your exclusive British and Commonwealth Rights.

Assignees and licensees. These are important words on which acceptability depends from one’s point of view. e.g. Knightsbridge, its assignees and licensees…

This beginning suggests that Knightsbridge may hand you over to somebody else after contracts are signed. If you happen to be

Knightsbridge, you will want those particular rights and should use the phrase.

Without prejudice. The British use this phrase all by itself, leaving the reader intrigued: without prejudice – to what exactly?

Americans use it more elaborately. Legal rights, for example, are not the same thing as remedies in the offers to enforce them. Thus it’s the American right to write: e.g. Without prejudice to any of my existing or future rights or remedies.

We have carefully examined the samples from this consignment and offer you, without prejudice, an allowance of 50 USA cents per

50 kilos.

As between us – it is a useful phrase because people are always forgetting or neglecting to mention that a great many interests may be involved in what appears to be a simple dialogue. A is controlled by investors, and B – by a foreign parent company. That’s why it will be useful to say in such a situation as between us… e.g. We confirm the exchange of telexes as between us follows…

Solely on condition that – it’s one of a few phrases that can be considered better than its short counterparts. One might ask: “Why not use just if instead of the phrase?” If by itself opens a possibility of open contingencies. e.g. If Baker delivers 1000 barrels I will buy them.

But it is unclear if you will buy them only from Baker. Therefore, we can use only if as a synonym. Sometimes it works out, but not always.