The ContractStandards Style Guide

The ContractStandards Style Guide

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Style Guide / Elements

Contracts are formal documents, generally constructed from three basic forms of sentences, each following the form of subject…verb…object.

Conditions, qualifiers, and exceptions may appear in any order either preceding or following the obligation or statement:

[condition / predicate]…[obligation / statement]…object…[qualifier / exception].

Obligations

Obligations are sentences where the subject of a modal verb is one of the parties to the agreement. A modal verb is a type of auxiliary verb used to indicate modality—namely, permission, obligation, or ability.

Note: conditions and qualifications may appear anywhere in the sentence and a sentence may contain both.

Representations & Acknowledgements

Representations and acknowledgments are sentences where the subject of the sentence is a party and the verb is one (or more) of the following: “represents”, “warrants”, “acknowledges”, or “agrees”.

Statements

Statements are sentences where the object of the verb is the agreement or a generic noun.

Note: statements may or may not contain a modal verb.

Defintions

Definitions or defined terms may be drafted in-line or in a separate paragraph, often grouped together in a dedicated “Definitions” section.

General Guidelines

Lists

Lists describe a concept or the elements of a contract term.