contract-law legal-terms
Difference between terms and clauses in a contract
<p>I'm new to legal terminology used in contracts. I'm trying to understand the difference between terms of a contract and clauses of a contract. All the sites have referred so far provide no clear distinction between the two and sometimes use terms and clauses interchangeably. I'm wondering if there is any difference between the two or not. </p>

<p>I found a similar question asked before: <a href="https://law.stackexchange.com/questions/6324/whats-the-difference-between-a-clause-provision-condition-and-term">What&#39;s the difference between a clause, provision, condition and term?</a> but it doesn't answers the question in the context of purchase or legal contracts. </p>

<p>Also, from a conceptual point of view, does a contract contain anything other than terms, name of the signing parties and clauses?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>Terms and clauses are the apples and oranges of a contract.</p>

<p>First of all —</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>from a conceptual point of view, does a contract contain anything other than terms, name of the signing parties and clauses?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>— most contracts do not even need to be in writing (and thus do not need to contain any "signing parties" or "clauses"). What makes up a contract is a separate question but, again, a writing is only necessary for certain types of contracts (e.g. real estate contracts).</p>

<p><strong>Terms</strong> of a contract exist regardless of whether it is in writing or not: they are plainly specific <em>information</em> (or <em>knowledge</em>) about the contract that the parties have agreed on: who the parties are, what they do for each other and what they get in return, times, places, numbers and whatever the parties consider essential to the contract. This information/knowledge may just stay in the minds of the parties and never be rendered in a readable form. The contract will be perfectly valid and enforceable.</p>

<p><strong>Clauses</strong> are what written contracts composed of. They are just blocks of text each addressing specific aspect or concern of the contract e.g. Parties, Payment, Delivery, Force majeure, Termination, Jurisdiction etc.</p>
