Translate a commercial contract into English

What changes when a contract moves into English

A commercial contract cannot be translated word for word: the English-speaking party must read exactly the same obligations as the party who drafted it. Contracts written in civil-law languages such as French, German or Spanish raise the same issues again and again.

• Legal false friends. French résiliation usually means termination, while résolution undoes the contract and is closer to rescission. A French clause pénale or German Vertragsstrafe should not automatically become a penalty clause: English law is wary of penalties, and liquidated damages often reflects the parties' intent better.
• Concepts with no exact match. A mise en demeure becomes formal notice; working days become business days. Each choice needs checking against what the clause actually requires.
• The language of obligation. Many languages state duties in the plain present tense ("the Supplier delivers the Products"). Contractual English uses the Supplier shall deliver the Products. Long formulas such as "hereinafter referred to as the Client" shrink to (the "Client").
• Defined terms. English contracts mark them with a capital letter: the Territory, the Effective Date, Confidential Information. A term rendered one way in Clause 1 and another in Clause 9 creates an ambiguity the other side's lawyer will notice.

Company forms and local references (SAS, GmbH, S.L., registry numbers, civil code articles) normally stay as they are, explained once at most.

Dates, amounts and plurals: the details that matter

In a contract, a misconverted date or amount directly changes a deadline or a price. Watch for:

• Dates. British English writes 1 March 2025, American English March 1, 2025. Avoid 01/03/2025, which a US reader takes as 3 January.
• Amounts. A continental 12.500,00 € or 12 500,00 € becomes €12,500.00: comma and full stop swap, and the symbol moves in front. A missed swap in the price clause changes what is owed. Tax mentions such as HT/TTC become excluding VAT / including VAT.
• Spelling. British English has licence (noun) and organisation; American English license and organization. Both are understood; mixing them in one agreement is the real fault.
• Plurals and time limits. English has only singular and plural (one business day, thirty business days). Contract drafting often repeats numbers in words and figures: within thirty (30) days.

English text from French is typically 10 to 15 % shorter. On a 14-page agreement, the signature block may move up a page and annexes may repaginate: check that references such as "see page 12" still hold, or better, point them to clause numbers.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not

Your contract is handled by Thémis, the engine specialised in legal texts. You receive:

• the same file in its original format (Word, PDF, RTF, plain text, HTML and others), layout included: bold clause headings, 7.2.1 numbering, annex tables, party details;
• a translation delivered within minutes for a typical contract of around 5,000 words, then kept in your client area;
• before you pay, a free sample: one paragraph of your contract translated at the level you chose. Pick a dense clause, such as limitation of liability, to judge the terminology.

For a draft sent to the other party, the Professional level fits; Premium adds a cross-review, worth it for the version that will be signed.

What Manuce does not do:

• No sworn or certified translation. If a court, public authority or notary requires one, you need a sworn translator.
• No scanned PDFs. A signed contract scanned to an image, with no selectable text, cannot be read.
• No change of governing law. Translating a French- or German-law contract into English does not make it an English-law contract: the governing law stays whatever the relevant clause says.

Preparing the file and checking the English version

Before uploading:

• start from the Word version rather than the signed PDF; if you only have a PDF, make sure the text is selectable;
• accept or reject tracked changes and delete negotiation comments, so that only the final wording is translated;
• include the annexes (price list, delivery schedule, territory) in the file if they form part of the contract.

After delivery, check first:

1. defined terms: every Product, Order or Territory keeps the same form throughout;
2. amounts, rates and dates, compared one by one with the original;
3. internal cross-references (pursuant to Clause 12.3) and the exact names of the parties;
4. governing law and jurisdiction clauses, which must lose none of their precision.

If both language versions will be signed, add a language clause, for instance: In the event of any inconsistency between the English and French versions, the French version shall prevail. For a binding agreement, have your counsel review the English text before signature.

In practice

1. Upload the contract, ideally as a Word file with tracked changes resolved: the quote appears at once, based on the exact word count.
2. Choose English and a level, then read the free sample of a dense clause.
3. Pay: Thémis translates the contract and returns it within minutes in its original format.
4. Check defined terms, amounts, dates and clause references, then have the English version reviewed before signing.