区别辨析agreement、contract、treaty、convention、bargain、understanding与accord

agreement、contract、treaty、convention、bargain、understanding与accord这些名词均含“协定、协议、契约、合同”之意。

agreement :普通用词,含义最确定,泛指个人、团体或国家之间取得一致而达成的任何协议、协定或合同、契约等,可以是口头的,也可以是书面的。

  • An agreement was finally reached between management and employees.
    劳资双方终于达成了协议。
  • They had made a verbal agreement to sell.
    他们达成了口头售货协定。

contract :侧重指双方或多方订立的具有法律效力的正式的书面合同或契约。

  • to enter into/make/sign a contract with the supplier
    与供应商签订合同

(拓展学习:熟词僻义 | 当 contract 遇上新冠肺炎

treaty :指国家之间经外交谈判后依照国际法签订的正式条约。

  • the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Community
    建立了欧洲共同体的《罗马条约》

convention :比 treaty 更专门化,但不及 treaty 正式。也可指国家之间就有关事情签订的条约。

  • the Geneva convention
    日内瓦公约
  • the United Nations convention on the rights of the child
    联合国儿童权利公约

bargain :通常指商业交往中的购销合同。

  • We shall be able to tell whether you've kept your side of the bargain.
    我方应能知道你方是否遵守了协议。
  • The treaty was based on a bargain between the French and German governments.
    这个条约是以法国和德国政府之间的一个协议为基础的。

understanding :指不具约束力的非正式的协议。

  • We finally came to an understanding about what hours we would work.
    我们最终就工作时间问题取得了一致意见。
  • We have this understanding that nobody talks about work over lunch.
    我们有个默契:吃午饭时谁也不许谈工作。

accord :多指国际间的正式协议。

  • The two sides signed a peace accord last July.
    在刚过去的七月,双方签订了和平条约。