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【Abstract】With China’s successful entry into WTO, some adults are beginning to attach importance to studying business English contracts. The purpose of this paper is to quest for English-Chinese Translation Techniques of business contracts.
【Key Words】English-Chinese Translation Techniques;Business Contracts;Passive Voice;Adverbial Clauses
With China’s successful entry into WTO (the World Trade Organization), business English is more widely used. A business English contract is a formal written agreement, which sets forth rights and obligations of the parties concerned. Once entered into, a contract is binding and enforceable by law. Any party who fails to fulfill his obligations must make compensation for the other party’s losses. A business contract is an indispensable part for people to carry out international business activities. It is necessary to mention a few English-Chinese translation techniques of business contracts.
When translating, both grammatical and rhetorical considerations are involved. Since Chinese and English belong to two different language families and present a lot of differences in their grammar, lexicon, discourse structure, etc., one of the problems we cannot avoid while translating is how to make the version sound as smooth and natural as possible.
Translating sentences of business English Contracts into Chinese is feasible but not always easy. They are comprehensive, and occasionally complex. The following translation techniques will focus on the passive voice and the adverbial clauses.
1.Translation Techniques of Passive Voice
Voice is a grammatical category. It is a form of the verb, which shows whether the subject of a sentence acts or is acted on. When the subject is the agent or doer of an action, the verb takes the form of active voice; if, on the other hand, the subject is the recipient of the action, the verb takes the form of passive voice.
Passive voice is widely used in English, especially in formal informative writing, and scientific writing and news reporting. In business English contracts, passive voice is frequently used, too. Most transitive verbs can appear in their passive forms. The passive voice of English transitive verbs is formed by the auxiliary be + -ed participle. A sentence / clause whose predicator (predicate verb) is passive is called a passive sentence / clause. On the contrary, active voice is often used in the Chinese version.
1.1 The Passive Voice Converted into the Active Voice
Since passive voice is used much less frequently in Chinese than in English, and passive meanings are usually expressed by active constructions in Chinese, we can convert the passive voice in English into the active voice in Chinese.
A) When being translated, on the whole, the word order of a passive clause or a sentence is not altered or is changed a little, and the position of the subject of the original sentence is not changed in the target language. This kind of translation technique is often employed in the translation of business English contracts. A few examples are listed below:
a) All the activities shall be governed by the laws of the countries concerned.
一切活动均应遵守有关国家的法律。
b) All disputes arising out of the performance of, or relating to this Contract, shall be settled amicably through negotiation.
凡因执行本合同所发生的或与本合同有关的一切争议，双方应通过友好协商解决。
B) Whether or not a by-phrase is used in a passive sentence is determined by a number of factors. Generally speaking, a by-phrase is indispensable when a draftsman wants to stress the agent or the doer of the action. In this case, we may convert the doer of the action of a by-phrase into the subject of a clause or sentence in the target language.
·All the payments shall be made in the U.S. Currency by the Buyer to the Seller by telegraphic transfer to the Seller’s designated account with the Bank of China, Beijing, China.
买方应以美元支付卖方货款，并以电汇的方式汇至卖方指定的中国银行北京分行的帐户。
C) When translating a passive clause or sentence, at whiles one need readjust the sentence elements.
If an adverbial clause of condition does not indicate the doer of the action, we may convert this clause in the passive structure into a subjectless clause. The subject of the original clause is converted into the object of the target sentence. For instance:
·If a foreign auditor registered in other country is necessary to be employed to undertake annual financial checking and examination, Party A shall give its consent. All the expenses thereof shall be borne by Party B.
如果需要聘请其他国家的审计师对年度的财务进行审查，甲方应予以同意。其所需费用乙方负担。
If the adverbial and the subject of a sentence in the passive voice have inclusive relationship, we may convert the adverbial of the original sentence into the subject of the target sentence so as to make the translation clear and coherent. For example:
a) The establishment, remuneration and the expenses of the staff of the preparation and construction office, when agreed by both parties, shall be covered in the project budget.
经甲乙双方同意后，工程预算应包括筹建工厂人员的编制、报酬及费用。
b) The conditions for establishment of the Joint Venture Company and the total amount of investment and registered capital are stipulated in this Contract.
本合同规定了设立合资公司的条件以及投资总额与注册资本。
D) In business English Contracts, there is a special passive pattern, that is, “It is + past participle + that clause” which has basically formed a comparatively fixed translation version.
a) It is agreed that Party A shall have no obligation to pay for the insurance premium.
双方同意，甲方不负担保险费。
b) It is essentially stressed that the Buyers are requested to sign and return the duplicate of this Contract within 3 days from the date of receipt. In the event of failure to do this, the Sellers reserve the right to cancel the Contract.
必须强调：买方应于收到本合同之日起3天内签字并退还合同的副本，如买方不这样做，卖方保留取消合同的权利。
1.2 The Passive Structure Remaining Unchanged
Not all passive voice in English is converted into active voice in Chinese. Sometimes, an English passive voice may keep its passive structure in the Chinese version. In Chinese, passive voice is mainly conveyed through the use of words like 由, 被, 把, 给, 将. The following examples are translated in this way.
a) The term for the technology transfer agreement is signed by Party A and the Solely Foreign-owned Enterprise, and it shall be approved by the approval authority.
技术转让协议的期限由甲方与独资企业签订并经审批机关批准。
b) If other coverage or an additional amount is required, the Buyers must have the consent of the Sellers before shipment, and the additional premium is to be borne by the Buyers.
如买方欲增加其他险别或超过上述保额时须于装船前征得卖方同意，所增加的保险费由买方负担。
2.Translation Techniques of Adverbial Clauses
In business English contracts, adverbial clauses are frequently applied. Adverbial clauses can be used to talk about time, cause, condition, concession and purpose. Depending on the context, their positions in a sentence can be quite flexible: they can appear either at the beginning of a sentence, or at the end of a sentence, or even in the middle of a sentence. Their positions in a Chinese sentence also vary according to the contexts. The point for attention is how to make the translation conform to Chinese usage when English adverbial clauses are translated into Chinese.
There are two kinds of adverbial clauses, which often appear in business English contracts, i.e. adverbial clauses of time and adverbial clauses of condition.
2.1Adverbial clauses of time are introduced by when, while, as, before, after, until, etc can be described in terms of “same time”, “earlier time”, and “later time.”
The adverbial clauses of time introduced by when, before and after are widely used in business English contracts. The following will concentrate on how to translate them into Chinese.
a) In Chinese, “ when” is usually introduced by 当……时候, etc. Sometimes, an adverbial clause introduced by “when” can be regarded as the clause of conditional meaning, which can be translated into Chinese adverbial clauses of condition. In Chinese, we have similar conjunctions like如果, 倘若, etc.#p#分页标题#e#
·When one party to the Joint Venture Company assigns all or part of his investment, the other party has preemptive right.
如果合资公司一方拟转让其全部或部分出资额，另一方有优先购买权。
b) The conjunction “before” is usually translated into “在……之前” in Chinese. In business English contracts, sometimes, in order to emphasize the obligation to be fulfilled, “before” may be rendered into Chinese by using “……后, 才能…….”
·The manufacturers shall, before the goods is delivered over, make a precise and comprehensive inspection of the goods with regard to its quality, specifications, performance and quantity, weight, and issue inspection certificates certifying the technical data and conclusion of the inspection.
制造商应对货物的质量、规格、性能和数量、重量进行一丝不苟和全面的检验，出具检验证明书，证实检验的技术数据和结论后，才能发货。
c) The conjunction, “after” is often expressed by “在……后” in Chinese. In business English contracts, “after” is sometimes converted into “……之日起” in Chinese for the purpose of preciseness.
·In case the Buyer finds any document incorrect, the Buyer is obliged to cable the Seller indicating the incorrect items. The cable shall be sent within twenty days after the Bank of China, Beijing Branch has received the Seller’s documents.
买方如发现文件有错误时，应在中国银行北京市分行收到卖方文件之日起20天内电告卖方，并指出错误项目。
2.2 In English adverbial clauses of condition are generally introduced by conjunctions such as if, in case, unless, once, and so long as. In Chinese we have similar conjunctions like 如果, 万一, 除非, 一旦, 只要, etc. Moreover, not all adverbial clauses of condition in English need to be presented as adverbial clauses in Chinese. See the following examples:
A) An unless-clause can denote a real condition as well as an unreal condition. In a clause of real condition, unless can sometimes be replaced by if¼not. In business English contracts, “unless” is usually rendered into Chinese by using “除……另有……者外,” and “unless” is often used together with “otherwise.”
·Unless the Contract provides otherwise, it is the Buyer’s legal duty to collect and transport the goods from the Seller’s premises.
除合同另有规定者外，买方应在卖方的处所提货运输。
·Unless otherwise arranged, neither party shall have the right to represent the other party.
除另有安排者外，任何一方无权代表另一方。
B) The conjunction, “whereas” at whiles connects two independent clauses to form a compound sentence, and we have similar conjunctions like “而” in Chinese. In business English contracts, sometimes “whereas” is used at the preamble to introduce the background and purpose, denotes taking into consideration the fact, introduces adverbial clauses of condition, and consequently is translated into Chinese by using “鉴于.”
·Whereas Party B has the right and desires to transfer the aforesaid know-how to Party A, this Contract shall come into force from the date of execution hereof by Party A and Party B.
鉴于乙方有权并愿意向甲方转让上述专有技术，本合同自甲方和乙方签署之日生效。
C) We should pay special attention to the particular usage of the conjunction “where” in business English contracts; “where” introduces the adverbial clauses of condition and means “如果”, “若” in Chinese. This kind of usage is usually found in the legal style, but is seldom adopted in other styles.
·Where there exists a relationship of administrative subordination between the debtor and the third party, as to the creditor, the interests of the debtor and of the third party shall be consistent.
如果债务人与第三者存在隶属关系，相对债权人而言，债务人与第三者的利益应该是一致的。
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