Translate terms and conditions of sale into English

What changes when sales terms move into English

Terms of sale have their own vocabulary in every legal system, and English contract drafting has fixed equivalents that a literal translation misses. Typical cases when the source is French, German, Spanish or Italian:

• A retention-of-ownership clause becomes a retention of title clause.
• Penalties for late payment become late payment interest; a term such as "30 days end of month" keeps that exact wording.
• Net and gross prices become prices exclusive / inclusive of VAT.
• The EU consumer withdrawal right is the right of withdrawal; UK-facing texts usually say right to cancel.
• The statutory warranty becomes the legal guarantee of conformity.

English contracts express obligations with shall ("The Customer shall pay…") and use capitalised defined terms: the Seller, the Customer, the Goods. Once defined, each term must stay identical throughout the document.

British or American English, dates and amounts

Decide who the terms are for before you order. For customers in the UK or continental Europe, British spelling is the natural choice: authorised, cancelled, licence. For the United States: authorized, canceled, license. Mixing the two in one contract looks careless to any lawyer reading it.

Dates are the main trap: 03/04/2025 is 3 April in the UK and 4 March in the US. In sales terms, write dates unambiguously, as 3 April 2025. Number separators change too: a continental 1 250,50 becomes 1,250.50, with the currency symbol placed before the figure.

English text is usually 10 to 15% shorter than French, so an eight-page PDF of clauses tightens up and a price table or footer may look emptier. That is expected, not a fault.

What Manuce delivers, and what it does not

Your terms are handled by Thémis, the engine specialised in legal texts, which favours established legal equivalents over word-for-word renderings. Upload a Word, PDF, RTF, HTML, plain text or Markdown file; it comes back in the same format, with clause headings, numbering and layout preserved. For terms of around 3,000 words, the translation is delivered within minutes and kept in your client area.

What Manuce does not do:

• It does not produce sworn or certified translations. If a court or authority requires a version certified by a sworn translator, you will need one.
• It does not redraft your terms for another jurisdiction: a cancellation clause written for French or German consumer law remains that clause, translated.
• It cannot read a scanned PDF where the text is not selectable.

For terms published on a website or attached to quotes, the Professional level matches the "ready to send" use.

Preparing the file

• Use the source file: the .docx or the HTML of your terms page rather than a scanned print-out.
• Check cross-references: "see clause 7.2" must point to the right clause; fix this in the source language first.
• Remove what is obsolete: company registration numbers and addresses stay as they are, but deleted clauses need not be translated.
• Add a language clause, for example: In the event of any discrepancy between the French and English versions, the French version shall prevail. This stops a nuance of translation being used against your original text.
• Keep the governing law clause unchanged in substance: These Terms shall be governed by French law.

Reviewing the English version

Start with the free extract: it shows how Thémis renders your key terms. If a product or service name must stay in the original language, check it in the extract and again in the delivered file.

Then check:

• Defined terms are consistent: not the Buyer in clause 3 and the Customer in clause 9.
• Time limits read correctly: 14 days, and business days as business days (or working days in the UK).
• Dates and amounts follow one convention only.
• The competent court stays identifiable, e.g. Commercial Court of Lyon.

If the terms are meant to apply in an English-speaking country, have a local lawyer review the English version: translation gives you the text, not its compliance.

In practice

1. Choose British or American English according to your customers.
2. Upload your terms as Word, text-based PDF or HTML for an instant quote.
3. Read the free translated paragraph to check key legal terms.
4. Pay, then download the translated file in its original format.
5. Check defined terms, dates, amounts and the language clause before publishing.