签下合约为何不都是用signed？

为何中文说的“签下”合约，英文不用signed而是won？因为重点不在“签约”的动作，而是“赢了”一桩案子，won更贴切。谈到签约，还有什么英文用词小陷阱？

1 　我们公司和X饭店有签约，所以有特别优惠。

（×）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：“有签约”表示一种既定状态，不是在强调动作，因此不用sign contract，而用in contract with。

2 　我对合约条款只有一个问题。

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

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

解析：合约的条款或条件，像付款期、违约罚则等，不叫condition，也不叫policy或rule，而是统称term。像付款条件叫terms of payment或简化成payment terms。

3 　我们的合约上周到期。

（×）Our contract finished last week.

（○ ）Our contract expired last week.

解析：合约到期有很多种说法，除了expire外还有be due（到期）或是很正式的terminate（终止），但就是不用finished（完成）。口语中甚至可以用up，有“到顶”的意思。

同义词造句：

Our contract was officially due last week.

Our contract was up last week.

We officially terminated the contract last week.