Odette Bélanger Sep 1, 2010:

But "current" may also be translated in French by "actuel" in some instances. Example : "les discussions actuelles portent sur..." (Current discussions). "Current matters" would be "les affaires courantes".

Aude Sylvain Aug 30, 2010:

conventions / accords / contrats Interesting to read Fr-EnD's and Odette's posts. I think it depends on the country we're speaking about. Honestly, in Fr-Fr, those words are more or less interchangeable. The terms "Accord" and "convention" could qualify any "contract" (but the contrary is not true)

Odette Bélanger Aug 30, 2010:

I know, you are right, I was just giving an example because as a legally secretary I'm not sure in this context it would refer to a "convention". I have a feeling we are rather speaking of a "contract". See Antidote for the word convention. Définitions de convention, nom féminin
Flexion
f. s. convention
f. pl. conventions
Étymologie
IXe XXIe s.

XIIIe
Du latin conventio, ‘accord’.

À proscrire
Anglicisme : faux ami dans le sens de « congrès », « colloque », « réunion » ou « assemblée ».
Indice de fréquence59
rare fréquent
Autre ressource
Wikipédia
◆Accord, pacte entre deux ou plusieurs personnes ou groupes de personnes. Convention signée entre deux États.
•Clause particulière d’un accord.
◆Règle résultant d’un commun accord, explicite ou tacite. Par convention, les cartes géographiques sont orientées avec le nord en haut. Les conventions du théâtre.
◆Aux États-Unis, congrès d’un parti réuni pour désigner son candidat à la présidence. La convention républicaine.
◆La Convention (nationale) : assemblée révolutionnaire française (1792-1795) qui succéda à l’Assemblée législative et qui fonda la Première République.
◆Les conventions : règles de la vie en société, c

Fr-EnD Aug 30, 2010:

Mixed views on OB's posts re this subject I've specialized in legal translation since 1996 and studied law in English and French. I see the word "convention" in several contexts, including corporate (convention entre actionnaires) public administration (convention de subvention) and international (Convention contre la Torture). The main English translations are "agreement" and "convention" and these words are not interchangeable.

Bourth (X) Aug 30, 2010:

If accord or any other masculine word is inappropriate, maybe why that is why they changed it ... and forgot to change the .... accords ...

Aura Fuente (asker) Aug 30, 2010:

Context Thank you very much for your input. This is the sentence:
Les dispositions visées au premier alinéa ci-dessus ne sont pas applicables aux conventions courants et conclues à des conditions normales.

The "courants" is in effect an error. My doubt is if this word would mean "regular" in this context.

Odette Bélanger Aug 30, 2010:

so, if we want to use the masculine, then the word "contrat" is the right option.

To be more sure, we would need more information on the type of contract. Are we really dealing with negotiations?

Odette Bélanger Aug 30, 2010:

Furthermore, the word "convention" is used especially in matters like negotiations between an employer and its employees. Here it seems from what we can gather it is rather relating to a "contrat" or "entente". I would stick to these two words.

Odette Bélanger Aug 30, 2010:

We don't usually use the word "accord" for that time of simple contract. The word "accord" is mostly used for treaties and things like that.

Bourth (X) Aug 30, 2010:

I imagine it first said ACCORDS (or something else masculine) courants et conclus then someone decided another word would be better.

Jennifer Forbes Aug 30, 2010:

Grammatical error? "Convention" is feminine. Shouldn't the text read "conventions courantes et conclues ..."?

Fr-EnD Aug 29, 2010:

Here's the context we need - What type (form) of document is this? Is there a grave accent on the word "a"? (à)
- What do the preceding sentences and ensuing sentences say?
- What is the overall purpose of the document or the relevant section of the document?
It is a bit unusual to say "conclus à", except in a certain context. Normally, one might see something like "conclues selon les conditions habituelles" or "assorties des conditions normales".