conditional contract
- noun
- Formal
- They signed a conditional contract stating that payment would be made only if the project was completed on time.
Examples
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The sale was governed by a conditional contract that required the buyer to secure financing within 30 days.
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A conditional contract is often used in real estate transactions.
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A conditional contract does not become enforceable until its stipulated event happens.
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Will you sign the conditional contract today?
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A conditional contract does not become enforceable until its stipulated event happens.
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The sale was governed by a conditional contract that required the buyer to secure financing within 30 days.
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They signed a conditional contract stating that payment would be made only if the project was completed on time.
Synonyms
An agreement where one or both sides must act only if an uncertain event happens
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'conditional' (depending on stated conditions) modifies 'contract' (a written agreement), so a learner who knows both words can infer it is an agreement whose effect depends on specified conditions. This is a standard, cross-linguistically common nominal modification pattern and should be immediately understandable to B1 learners familiar with the constituents.
Etymology
Conditional contract combines conditional (meaning 'if') and contract (meaning 'an agreement'). It is an agreement that only becomes active when a stated event happens, so the duties in the contract depend on that event.