Unit 1: Basic Grammar for Legal Writing
Syllabus coverage in this unit
1.1 Grammar in spoken and written English · 1.2 Speech sounds and transcription · 1.3 Stress, intonation ·
1.4 Varieties of English – British and American · 1.5 Aspects of spoken English · 1.6 Tenses · 1.7 Articles
1.1 Grammar in Spoken and Written English
Grammar is the system of rules by which words change form and combine into sentences — sounds (phonology), forms (morphology) and structures (syntax). Every lawyer works in two grammars: the relaxed grammar of speech (courtroom argument, client interview) and the exact grammar of writing (petitions, contracts, judgments).
Why grammar is a legal skill: a misplaced comma can cost millions (see Unit 3, 3.2); a wrong tense can misdate an event; a wrong article can change a generic statement into a specific one. Courts interpret what was written, not what was meant.
Key differences between spoken and written English
| Feature | Spoken | Written |
|---|---|---|
| Planning | Spontaneous, repairable (“I mean…”, “sorry, let me rephrase”) | Planned, revised, permanent |
| Completeness | Fragments, ellipsis (“Coming?” “Yeah.”) | Full sentences required |
| Support | Gestures, tone, facial expression, shared situation | Words and punctuation alone must carry meaning |
| Vocabulary | Phrasal verbs, fillers (“well”, “you know”), slang | Formal, Latinate vocabulary |
| Recording | Usually transient (unless recorded as evidence) | Permanent record — is evidence |
Descriptive grammar studies how people actually use language; prescriptive grammar prescribes how it should be used in standard contexts. Legal drafting is strongly prescriptive — Standard English, the register of statutes and judgments.
1.2 Speech Sounds and Transcription
Phoneme: the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes meaning. Ship /ʃɪp/ and sheep /ʃiːp/ differ by one phoneme. Pairs like this are minimal pairs — the proof that two sounds are phonemes in a language.
The phonemes of English (with legal-neighbouring examples):
- Vowels: /iː/ (deed), /ɪ/ (did), /e/ (debt), /æ/ (fact), /ɑː/ (fraud — in BrE), /ɒ/ (cost), /ɔː/ (court), /ʊ/ (book), /uː/ (proof), /ʌ/ (judgment), /ɜː/ (term), /ə/ (the unstressed vowel — the most common sound in English: about, sofa)
- Diphthongs: /eɪ/ (case), /aɪ/ (trial), /ɔɪ/ (jury), /aʊ/ (house), /əʊ/ (oath), /ɪə/ (here), /eə/ (swear), /ʊə/ (juror)
- Consonants: /p b t d k g/ (plea, brief, tort, deed, court, guilt), /tʃ dʒ/ (charge, judge), /f v/ (fraud, verdict), /θ ð/ (theory, this), /s z/ (suit, cause), /ʃ ʒ/ (shall, measure), /m n ŋ/ (murder, negligence, wrongful — the /ŋ/ in -ing), /h/ (heir), /l r/ (law, right), /w j/ (writ, lawsuit)
Transcription = writing sounds in symbols (IPA). Lawyers meet transcription when:
- Transliterating Nepali names into English documents (how many ways can ऋषि or घनश्याम be spelled? — courts require consistent spelling across citizenship, certificates and pleadings);
- Transcribing recorded evidence (intercepts, confessions) — the transcript becomes an exhibit;
- Pronouncing legal vocabulary — alias /ˈeɪliəs/, certiorari /ˌsɜːtiəˈreəraɪ/, habeas corpus /ˈheɪbiəs ˈkɔːpəs/ — confident pronunciation is part of professional credibility.
1.3 Stress and Intonation
A. Word stress
Stress can change word class — a daily trap in legal English:
| NOUN (stress 1st) | VERB (stress 2nd) |
|---|---|
| REcord (an appeal record) | reCORD (to record a statement) |
| CONtract (the agreement) | conTRACT (to contract a disease / to shrink) |
| CONvict (a person) | conVICT (to convict) |
| PREsent (exhibit) | preSENT (to present evidence) |
| OBject (matter of objection) | obJECT (to object) |
| INcrease (the rise) | inCREASE (to increase) |
B. Sentence stress
Stressing a different word changes the meaning:
“I never said she stole the money” (someone else said it) → “I never said she stole the money” (someone else did) → “I never said she stole the money“ (she stole something else). Seven meanings, seven stresses — a favourite exam illustration.
C. Intonation
- Falling tone — statements, commands, Wh-questions (“Where is the deed?↘”)
- Rising tone — yes/no questions (“Do you admit the signature?↗”), politeness, uncertainty
- Fall-rise — hesitation, contrast (“You signed it↘↗ … but did you read it?”)
Legal relevance: tone carries meaning that transcripts lose — a recorded “Yes↗” (doubtful) is not “Yes↘” (certain). Advocates control intonation deliberately: emphasis in cross-examination; the measured falling tone of a closing submission.
1.4 Varieties of English: British and American
Nepali legal English historically follows British conventions (a legacy of Indian-patterned legal education), but Nepali students read American textbooks and judgments daily — so you must move between the two consciously.
A. Spelling (systematic differences)
| British | American | Legal words affected |
|---|---|---|
| -our | -or | labour/labor |
| -ise | -ize | organise/organize |
| -re | -er | centre/center |
| -ence | -ense | licence (n.)/license |
| -lled / -lling | -led / -ling | counsellor/counselor |
| judgement (general) | judgment | judgment is standard in BOTH legal systems |
Rule for your writing: choose one variety and be consistent throughout the document.
B. Vocabulary
| British | American |
|---|---|
| lawyer / barrister / solicitor | lawyer / attorney / (attorney-at-law) |
| legal professional privilege | attorney–client privilege |
| plaintiff (now largely “claimant” in England) | plaintiff (still standard in US) |
| pavement, lift, flat, post (mail) | sidewalk, elevator, apartment, mail |
| anticlockwise, timetable | counterclockwise, schedule |
C. Grammar
- Collective nouns: BrE “The court has delivered its judgment” (often singular) / AmE allows “The jury have…” (plural) — AmE also uses singular; both accept variation.
- Present perfect: BrE “The accused has just entered the dock” / AmE often simple past “The accused just entered the dock.”
- ** gotten (AmE) vs got** (BrE); “shall” is rare in AmE.
1.5 Aspects of Spoken English
Spoken English is not “bad writing” — it is a different system. Its features:
- Spontaneity devices: false starts, self-correction, repetition (“It was — it was around Dashain, I think”).
- Fillers and hesitations: um, er, well, you know, like — natural in speech, fatal in writing.
- Ellipsis: omission of understood words (“Been there?” — “Yes”).
- Phrasal verbs: put off (postpone), call off (cancel), look into (investigate) — speech prefers them; formal writing often prefers their Latinate twins (postpone, cancel, investigate).
- Vague language: sort of, kind of, things like that — useful softeners in negotiation, dangerous in drafting.
- Backchannels: mm, right, I see — listener signals with no place in a document.
- Register control: the professional must shift register — friendly-formal with a client, strictly formal before a judge (“My Lord” — मा लर्ड — the honorific used in Nepali courts), relaxed at a bar event.
Exercise habit: record yourself explaining a legal point for two minutes; transcribe it; then rewrite it as formal prose. The differences you find are the syllabus of this section.
1.6 Tenses
English has three times (past/present/future) × four aspects (simple/continuous/perfect/perfect-continuous) = twelve tenses. Learn each with a legal sentence:
| Tense | Example from legal English |
|---|---|
| Present simple | A person commits theft… (statutes are written in the present) |
| Present continuous | The parties are negotiating a settlement. |
| Present perfect | The defendant has failed to file a defence. (past act, present consequence) |
| Present perfect continuous | The company has been delaying payment since Falgun. |
| Past simple | The witness stated that he saw the accused at the scene. |
| Past continuous | At 9 p.m. the police were recording the statement. |
| Past perfect | By the time the police arrived, the goods had been removed. (the “past of the past” — vital for fixing sequence of events) |
| Past perfect continuous | She had been working for the firm for ten years before the dispute arose. |
| Future simple (will/shall) | The contract shall terminate on 30 Jestha. |
| Future continuous | The tribunal will be hearing arguments next week. |
| Future perfect | By the hearing date, the client will have filed the reply. |
| Future perfect continuous | By Ashar, the case will have been pending for five years. |
Tense choices lawyers must master
- Statutory present: “Whoever commits murder shall be punished” — present for the definition, shall for the consequence.
- Past simple for narration of facts (statements of claim, FIRs, judgments): events are fixed in time.
- Present perfect for procedural recitals: “WHEREAS the parties have entered into an agreement dated…”
- Sequence of tenses in reported speech: “He said he was innocent” (see Unit 2, 2.2).
- Subjunctive for hypotheticals: “If the defendant were liable, damages would exceed…” (see Unit 2, 2.6).
1.7 Articles
The smallest words cause the biggest problems — especially for Nepali speakers, whose first language has no article system.
The system
- Indefinite a/an = one of a class; first mention: “A complaint was filed.”
- Definite the = already identified; unique; shared knowledge: “The complaint alleges fraud.” / “the Constitution of Nepal” (there is only one); “assign the contract” (the contract already mentioned).
- Zero article (–) = general/abstract plurals and uncountables: “– Courts interpret – statutes”; “– evidence was insufficient” (evidence is uncountable — never “an evidence” or “evidences”).
Legal examples to memorize
- “The State v. Ram Bahadur” — the State (unique) prosecutes; “the plaintiff”, “the defendant”, “the licensee” — definite because defined by the document.
- Generic drafting: “A licensee must…” (any licensee) vs “The licensee must…” (the specific party to this licence).
- “He is a party to the agreement.” / “She acted as an interpreter.”
- Institutions: “the Supreme Court”, “the High Court Patan”, but “Parliament” and “court” in general uses often take zero or the by convention — check a style source and be consistent.
Common Nepali-learner errors (exam targets)
- ~~a furniture / an information / an advice~~ → furniture, information, advice (uncountable)
- ~~the Nepali language is the my mother tongue~~ → Nepali is my mother tongue
- ~~He is advocate~~ → He is an advocate.
- ~~I am studying in the Nepal Law Campus~~ → …at Nepal Law Campus (institutions with proper names often take no article).
Exam Focus
- Long questions: “Explain the differences between spoken and written English.” / “Explain word stress and intonation with examples from legal English.” / “Distinguish British from American English with examples.” / “Explain the tense system of English with examples from legal writing.”
- Short questions: phoneme and minimal pair; transcription; noun–verb stress pairs; the twelve tenses; articles with uncountables; subjunctive.
- Trick areas: judgment (not judgement) in legal writing; evidence is uncountable; stress pairs (contract/contract); consistency of spelling variety.
Model Questions
Short-answer questions
- Define phoneme and minimal pair, with legal examples.
- Show with one sentence how word stress distinguishes noun from verb (any four pairs).
- Write the IPA transcription of: judge, court, law, jury, plea.
- Correct the errors: (a) an evidence; (b) he is advocate; (c) the both parties; (d) she has came to court.
- Give British and American spellings of any six words.
Long-answer questions
- “Grammar is the first tool of the lawyer.” Explain the differences between spoken and written English and their importance for legal writing.
- Explain stress and intonation in English, showing how they affect meaning, with examples from legal contexts.
- Describe the twelve tenses of English with sentences from legal writing, and explain the tense conventions of statutes and judgments.
- Explain the article system of English and the typical errors Nepali learners make, with corrections.
📚 Get the complete notes: Download the full Legal English – I PDF (all units) — Law Info Nepal Original Notes Series.