转载自王辉律师的个人博客http://lawylaw.ilaw.cn/
以下内容已由中国法律图书有限公司(原法律出版社)和LexisNexis China合作出版，并正式定名为《英文合同解读》(Understanding English Contracts)。出于内容来源考虑，本文仍沿用其在博客上连载的原名《英文合同导读》，并仅转载部分主要内容。
Learning by study must be won;
“Twas ne’er entailed from son to son.
-Gay, Fables, II, ii.
知识惟有学习获得，决非世代遗传。
-盖伊，《寓言》
第一章 英文合同概述(General Introduction)
In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it. (Nehemiah BIBLE NIV)
因这一切的事，我们立确实的约，写在册上。我们的首领，利未人，和祭司都签了名。
【尼西米】《圣经》新国际版
合同，古称契约(港台现仍多用此语)，“契”者即证券，证明买卖、抵押、租赁等关系的文书，如契据、房契等。古代典籍中常见此语，《易?系辞》就有“后时圣人易之以书契。”“约”者即共同商定的事,共同议定要遵守的条文，如和约、条约等。《三国演义》中就有“昔高祖约法三章,黎民皆感其德。”
而西方在早在〈〈圣经〉〉中就有关于上帝在西乃山与以色列人立约的记载。挪亚方舟就是籍着上帝与挪亚的契约而建造的：But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons‘ wives with thee. (但我要与你立约，你以及你的儿子、妻子和儿媳，要与你一同进入方舟。)
第一节 合同与协议(Contract and Agreement)
而在现代英语合同中，合同一般称为Contract，协议一般称为Agreement。那么Contract和Agreement是一回事吗?他们之间又有什么关系呢?《中华人民共和国民法通则》第85条规定：“合同是当事人之间设立、变更、终止民事关系的协议”(A contract shall be an agreement whereby the parties establish, change or terminate their civil relationship)。《中华人民共和国合同法》第二条规定：“合同是平等主体的自然人、法人、其他组织之间设立、变更、终止民事权利义务关系的协议”(Contracts referred to in this Law are agreements between equal natural persons, legal persons and other organizations for the purpose of establishing, altering and terminating mutual civil rights and obligations)。
美国法律整编合同法第二次汇编定义合同为：“合同乃为一个允诺或一组允诺。违反此一允诺时，法律给予救济;或其允诺之履行，法律在某些情况下视之为一项义务。”(A contract is a promise, or a set of promises, for breach of which the law gives a remedy, or the performance of which the law in some way recognizes as a duty.)(Restatement，Second,
Contracts, Section 1)这一定义在Steven H. Gifts 编著的Law Dictionary被完全引述. 但一般而言，Contract，乃两个以上当事人间具有法律约束力之协议，或由一个以上当事人所为一组具有法律约束力之允诺。(A contract is a legally binding agreement between two or more parties or a set of legal binding promises made by one party or more.(G. C. Lindsay, Contract, 3rd ed. 1992) 这一表述在L.B. Curzon编撰的Dictionary of Law中概括为“A legally binding agreement creating enforceable obligations.” Chris Turner在其编撰的Contract Law中定义的更为具体明了“A contract is an agreement between two parties by which both are bound in law and which can therefore be enforced in a court or other equivalent forum.”即合同就是对合同方具有法律上约束力，可由法院或其他同等管辖地强制执行的协议。而在Black’s Law Dictionary(Eighth Edition)对contract 的定义多达8项：
1. An agreement two or more parties creating obligations that are enforceable or otherwise recognzable at law
2.The writing that set forth such an agreement.
3.引述美国法律整编合同法第二次汇编“contract”的定义.
4. Broadly, any legal duty or set of duties not imposed by the law of tort; esp., a duty created by a decree or declaration of a court.
5. The body of law dealing with agreement and exchange.
6. The term of an agreement or any particular term.
7.Loosely, a sale or conveyance. 8. Loosely, an enforceable agreement between two or more parties to do or not to do a thing or a set of things; a compact.
至于agreement，L.B. Curzon的Dictionary of Law定义为：“A consensus of minds, or evidence of such consensus, in spoken or written form, relating to anything done or to be done.”是对已做和待做的有关事宜以口头或书面形式做出的相同意思表示或该意思表示的证据。而在Black’s Law Dictionary(Eighth Edition)给Agreement下了两个定义：一个是“A mutual understanding between two or more persons about their relative duites and obligations regarding past or future performances; a manifestation of mutual assent by two or more persons. ”即双方或多方就过去或将来的相关职责和义务的履行而达成相互的理解;双方或多方相互达成一致的表现形式。另一个是“The Parties’ acutal bargain as found in their language or by implication from other circumstances, including course of dealing, usage of trade and course of performance.”即当事人通过语言或其他情形暗示而确立的实际约定，包括交易常例、贸易习惯以及履行惯例。在ENGLISH-CHINISE BILINGUAL LAW DICTIONARY (2nd ed.)中对agreement作出了如下解释：document setting out the contractual terms agreed between two parties or contract between two parties where one party makes an offer, and the other party accepts it.
协议，协定，合同(列出双方当事人同意和约定条件的文件)Contract(合同)和Agreement(协议)到底能不能相互替换呢?让我们来看看英文合同相关书籍和词典的说法。Chris Turner在其Contract Law中是这样阐述合同的成立：“There are three key ingredients to formation(of contracts): agreement-based on mutuality over the terms, agreement exists when a valid acceptance follows a valid offer; consideration-given by both sides, the quid proquo, and the proof that the bargain exists; intention to create legal relations-since a contract is legally enforceable, unlike mere gratuitous promises. 即合同成立的三个要件：协议(基于要约与承诺形成对条款的相互一致而存在)、约因(双方付出的对价及对价存在的证据)和设立法律关系的意愿。(合同具有法律上的执行力，不同于纯粹的无偿赠予的允诺)这里也是用agreement来解释contract的，认为contract(合同)是一种符合一定条件的agreement(协议)。
在英语法律用语中虽然多用“agreement”来解释“contract”，其实也有偶用“contract”解释“agreement”的情形，如：Agreement,…(2) A contract (The Law Dictionary) 甚至有在同一句中交替使用的实例，如：If the contract contains an innocent mistake, you can get out of the agreement if the mistake is important. (What Should I Know About Contracts, The State Bar of California, 2 Edi. 1984), 还有更为明确的： Agreement. Synonym for Contract (Robert LeRoy & Kenneth A. Buths, Business Law and Taxes, “Glossary”, 1984)
而在Black’s Law Dictionary对agreement的注释中也能看到“The term’agreement’ frequently as synymous with the word”contract”, is really an expression greater breath of meaning and less technicality. Every contract is an agreement,; but not every agreement is a contract. In its colloquial sense, the term ‘agreement’ would include any arrangement between two or more persons intended to affect their relations (whether legal or otherwise) to each other. An accepted invitation to dinner, for example, would be an agreement in this sense; but it would not be a contract, because it would neither be intended to create, nor would it in fact create, any legal obligation between the parties to it. Further, even an agreement which is intended to affect the obligations of the parties does not necessarily amount to a contract in the strict sense of the term. For instance, a conveyance of land or a gift of a chattel, though involving an agreement is … not a contract; because its primary legal operation is to effect a transfer of property, and not to create an obligation.” 2 Stephen’s Commmentaries on the laws of England 5 (L. Crispin Warmington ed., 21st ed. 1950).
“An agreement, as the courts have said, ‘is nothing more than a mannefestation of mutual assent’ by two or more legally competent persons to one another’ by two or more legally competent persons to one another. Agreementis in some respects a broader term than contract, or even than bargain or promise. It covers excluded sales, gifts, and other transfers of property.” Samuel Williston, A Treaties on the Law of Contracts § at 6
(Walter H.E. Jaeger ed., 3d ed.1957).
综上所述，我们不难看出，汉语的法律用语仅用协议来解释合同，而英语的法律用语往往不很严格，多用Agreement解释Contract, 但也有用Contract解释Agreement的情形, 虽说大多情况Contract与Agreement有所区别，有时候两者还可以作为同义词互换使用。可以说contract都是协议，但协议不一定就是Contract。但就广义的协议和合同来讲，还是有区别 的：从成立的宗旨上看，协议十分宽泛不囿于为了当事人间形成法律或其他关系，即便是为影响当事人的义务也未必形成严格意义上的合同关系，如不动产转让或动产赠与。从内容、条款上看，合同较为具体、详尽，着眼于微观，而协议则较为原则、粗疏，致力于宏观。
实践中往往合作方就某一项目达成协议对有关原则问题作出约定，然后在此基础上签订合同，再全面明确各项具体的细节。从涉及范围上看，合同的标的往往比较单一集中，也很明确;通常都是一事一议，就事论事，而协议的标的往往比较广泛;一项大型项目的协议往往包括或分解成若干个具体的合同。
从书写格式上看，合同已基本格式化了，大家可以看到许多的合同范本;而协议的格式相对灵活一些，没有什么固定的格式。而狭义的协议和合同并无分别，只是用语上和习惯上的称呼而已。
第二节 合同的种类与名称(Categories and Titles)
一份英文法律文件, 到底是不是英文合同, 就要看它的内容是否符合合同的要求。一般而言合同不外乎包括人、事、时、地、物五大要素，也就是4W1H (Who, When, Where, What, How),如果你手上的文件内容包括了这五项要素而且签署生效，该文件就应该具有了合同的性质，而不论它是以何面目出现的。常见的英文合同名称可分为以下四大类：
一、合同、协议(Contract; Agreement)
二、意向书(Letter of Intent)
三、契约(Covenant, Indenture, Deed, Compact，Protocol)
四、其他书函(Letter; Waiver; Guaranty; Power of Attorney)
第二章 英文合同的特色(Features of English Contracts)
Form follows function.
-motto of the Bauhaus school of architecture
形式服从功能
-鲍豪斯建筑学院校训
与基础英语相比，作为专业性极强的语言，英文合同的用语不同于日常语言，具有显著的特点。首先，句子冗长而且复杂、似乎总也找不到句号，用词偏僻，晦涩难读，不易理解。其次，英文合同中往往沿用拉丁语，法律术语，跟中文的文言文似的，着实是佶屈聱牙，令人痛苦不堪。再次，由于属于专业英语的范畴，英语合同必然涉及法律方面理解，阅读者除了语言本身的能力外，对于法律也应具备一定的素质。这是所有专业英语的共性，就是需相应的专业知识，这方面本文恕不多言。目前国外，特别是美国要求法律文件的格式和语言应当现代化的呼声愈来愈强烈。Robert E. Swindle早在美国1980年出版的
The Business Communicator一书中就写到：" ...legal and quasilegal documents can and are being written in everyday language. Several leading companies are rewriting their legal forms voluntarily, and the State of New York recently passed a law requiring that businesses write consumer contracts in nontechnical language. Additionally, the President of the United States has directed all administrative agencies to write future regulations in what he termed plain English for a change." (大意是说法律和准法律性文件能用日常语言书就，而且人们也正在这样做。几家大公司自愿重新起草他们的法律文书，纽约州最近也......