Cardinal or Ordinal numbers in legal English? Thread poster: Reed James
| Reed James Chile Local time: 06:23 Member (2005) Spanish to English
Hello. I am curious to know if it is more common in contracts for clauses to be numbered cardinally: One, Two, Three, or ordinally: One, Two, Three. Any preferences? Thanks. Reed | | | Cardinals in EN (e.g. Clause Eleven - Jurisdiction) | Nov 20, 2006 |
Reed D. James wrote: Hello. I am curious to know if it is more common in contracts for clauses to be numbered cardinally: One, Two, Three, or ordinally: One, Two, Three. Any preferences? Thanks. Reed Hi Reed, You mean the headings - One, Two, Three (cardinal) vs. First, Second, Third (ordinal), right? Normal rule (this side of the Atlantic, at least = UK) - is to use cardinals. I'm not aware of any different convention for the US or other EN-speaking countries, e.g. South Africa, where I've practised So: Clause One - Purpose (and not First Clause - Purpose, as would be the case if written in PT for example) Clause Twenty - Applicable Law, etc Not unusual for Article to be used instead of Clause this side either. Hope this helps D
[Edited at 2006-11-20 17:30] | | | Convention in Scotland | Nov 20, 2006 |
Hi Reed, At the time when I was a legal secretary in Scotland (which is some years ago now), the convention appeared to be "Clause First", "Clause Second", "Clause Third" and so on. As far as I can make out, this convention is not, however, prevalent outside Scotland. Astrid P.S. Pages were numbered in that way as well. Instead of writing "- 2 -", for example, at the top of the second page, it was customary to write out "Page Second".
[E... See more Hi Reed, At the time when I was a legal secretary in Scotland (which is some years ago now), the convention appeared to be "Clause First", "Clause Second", "Clause Third" and so on. As far as I can make out, this convention is not, however, prevalent outside Scotland. Astrid P.S. Pages were numbered in that way as well. Instead of writing "- 2 -", for example, at the top of the second page, it was customary to write out "Page Second".
[Edited at 2006-11-20 19:03] ▲ Collapse | | | Paul Dixon Brazil Local time: 07:23 Portuguese to English + ... Numbering in Legal English | Nov 22, 2006 |
When translating into English I always translate in cardinal numbers, even though the Portuguese language confusingly uses ordinal numbers until 9 and cardinals from then on: Artigo 9º (Artigo Nono) is followed by Artigo 10 (Artigo Dez) in Portuguese! I use "article" or "clause" depending on the form used in the original, respectively "artigo" and "cláusula". | | | To report site rules violations or get help, contact a site moderator: You can also contact site staff by submitting a support request » Cardinal or Ordinal numbers in legal English? Protemos translation business management system | Create your account in minutes, and start working! 3-month trial for agencies, and free for freelancers!
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