簽下合約為何不都是用signed？

簽下合約為何不都是用signed？

為何中文說的“簽下”合約，英文不用signed而是won？因?yàn)橹攸c(diǎn)不在“簽約”的動作，而是“贏了”一樁案子，won更貼切。談到簽約，還有什么英文用詞小陷阱？

1 　我們公司和X飯店有簽約，所以有特別優(yōu)惠。

（×）My company has signed a contract with X Hotel, so we can get special prices.

（○ ）We are in contract with X Hotel and are entitled to a special discount.

解析：“有簽約”表示一種既定狀態(tài)，不是在強(qiáng)調(diào)動作，因此不用sign contract，而用in contract with。

2 　我對合約條款只有一個問題。

（×）I have only one question about the condition.

（○ ）I have only one question about the terms .

解析：合約的條款或條件，像付款期、違約罰則等，不叫condition，也不叫policy或rule，而是統(tǒng)稱term。像付款條件叫terms of payment或簡化成payment terms。

3 　我們的合約上周到期。

（×）Our contract finished last week.

（○ ）Our contract expired last week.

解析：合約到期有很多種說法，除了expire外還有be due（到期）或是很正式的terminate（終止），但就是不用finished（完成）。口語中甚至可以用up，有“到頂”的意思。

同義詞造句：

Our contract was officially due last week.

Our contract was up last week.

We officially terminated the contract last week.