Name: Legal English Vocabulary VV 26 - Contract Law (Lesson 1) | Business English Vocabulary
Uploaded: 2026-01-20T17:35:05.000Z
Duration: 11 min 4 s
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You're watching video vocab by businessenglishpod.com in this lesson, we'll look at the key principles behind contracts and contract law.

If you've ever signed up for a mobile phone, booked a hotel room, or accepted a job offer, you've made a contract.

Participle clauses

And there are several key aspects of every contract, beginning with the intent to make one, an offer and consideration.

For both sides, Agreement on the specific elements of a contract leads to acceptance, at which point the contract is legally binding to both parties.

Of course, the parties must have made truthful representations in the course of their negotiations.

A contract may also be threatened when one party does not fulfill its obligations, which can lead to repudiation.

There is also a situation called frustration when a contract cannot be fulfilled for unseen reasons.

When two parties under contract cannot agree, they may try to settle their dispute through a process of arbitration.

If this doesn't work, one party may attempt to sue the other in court, hoping to be awarded damages in the case of a breach of contract.

Now let's look at the vocabulary in more detail with some definitions and examples.

Contract to make a Contract A contract is any formal agreement between people or businesses.

Whenever we make a contract, we are creating a legal relationship.

Under John's employment contract, he gets three weeks of vacation every year.

Intent Intent Having the intent to make a contract means that you actually want to make one.

Without intent on both sides, there can be no contract.

While Tabitha wanted to make some sort of deal, Ron had no intent.

Offer to make an Offer when you propose a possible contract to a person or business, you are making an offer.

That offer may be accepted, rejected, or amended and sent back as a counteroffer.

The company's lawyer sent the offer to the competitor's legal team.

Consideration Consideration Every contract must include something of value, however small.

For both sides, this benefit or item of value is called consideration.

Ben felt that the deal didn't include enough consideration for his party.

Acceptance Acceptance Acceptance happens when both sides agree on a contract.

Once the offer or contract is formally accepted, the agreement becomes legal.

Acceptance of a contract depends on certain facts being verified.

Party Parties to a Contract the parties in a contract are those who are agreeing to do something.

Each party may be a person, a group of people, a business, or another type of organization.

Because the two parties couldn't agree on costs, they fail to make a deal.

Representation to make a representation Anytime you make a statement of fact in a contract or in negotiating a contract, you are making a representation.

The judge decided that Oral Ink's representations were truthful and accurate.

Repudiation Repudiation if one party does not fulfill its obligations under a contract, the result is repudiation of the contract.

Repudiation may have consequences outlined in the contract or it may lead to a lawsuit.

Repeated failure to pay on time led to repudiation of the contract.

Frustration Frustration Frustration of a contract happens when the contract cannot be fulfilled.

Frustration is not the fault of either party.

Frustration of the contract came about when it was found to violate trade agreements.

When contracted parties can't agree they have a dispute.

Finding a solution to their disagreement is referred to as settling the dispute, which they may do in or out of court.

It took the US And Canada years to settle their dispute over tobacco taxes.

Arbitration to Arbitrate Contracted parties that have a disagreement will usually try to reach a solution out of court through arbitration.

Wanting to avoid a costly legal battle, the two companies agreed to arbitration.

If the contracted parties can't settle their dispute through arbitration, they may go to court.

In this case, a judge may award damages, usually in the form of money, to the party that is able to prove their claim.

The judge awarded damages to the complainant after a lengthy court case.

Now it's your turn to practice some of the words we've studied in this lesson.

In a moment, you'll hear a series of sentences with a word replaced with a beep.

Repeat each sentence, including the missing word.

For example, if you I met with the buyer in my lawyer's office to sign the.

I met with the buyer in my lawyer's office to sign the contract.

We'll play the correct answer after each question.

We wanted to settle the out of court to save money.

We wanted to settle the dispute out of court to save money.

I decided to refuse the because the price wasn't right.

I decided to refuse the offer because the price wasn't right.

A contract becomes legal immediately after.

A contract becomes legal immediately after acceptance.

We celebrated when the judge decided to award us.

We celebrated when the judge decided to award us damages.

That's all for this episode of Video Vocab, the first in our series on contract law.

Be sure to check out our website at www.videovocab.tv for more videos on business English vocabulary.

Thanks for watching and see you again soon.