THE FUNCTIONAL STYLE OF OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS

“Notwithstanding the termination of the hiring under clause 6 the Hirer shall
pay all rent accrued due in respect of the hiring up to the date of such termination
and shall be or remain liable in respect to any damage caused to the Owner by
reason of any breach by the Hirer of any stipulation herein contained and on the
part of the Hirer to be performed or observed. At any time before the Owner shall
have recovered possession of the goods and before the Hirer shall have terminated
the hiring under section 4 of the hire-purchase act 1938 (as amended) the Hirer
may on the payment to the Owner of the total amount of any instalments then
remaining unpaid of the rent herein before reserved and agreed to be paid during
the terms and the further sum of ten shillings purchase the goods.
Provided that such payment as aforesaid shall be a condition precedent to the
exercise of the option to purchase sc conferred this agreement not being an
undertaking by the Owner to sell the goods on credit or without such payment as
aforesaid being first made and accordingly any notice unaccompanied by such
payment as aforesaid of an intention to exercise the said option shall be void and
shall not constitute a binding agreement to purchase or sell the goods.”
- verbs
…….. – nouns (specific vocabulary)
…….. – legal terms

This two-paragraph text is made up of three long sentences divided into

clauses. The language used is clear and doesn’t leave room for ambiguity or
interpretation. We must notice the use of archaic words: ‘notwithstanding’,
‘herein’, ‘aforesaid’. The clauses are complex and complicated due to many
insertions and interruptions.
Although the vocabulary is stylistically neutral, there are many words
specific to the domain spread in the text, many of them occurring several times:
clause, stipulation, agreed/agreement, amended, instalments, etc. We also notice
the neuter character in the fact that at no point the parts are actually mentioned
with their names. The words “Hirer” and “Owner” are capitalized throughout the
text emphasizing the fact that the cited document is agreed between the two parts.
This way the agreement can be settled between any two parts.
Fixed phrases and cliches are also present:’ Notwithstanding the termination
of the hiring’, ‘any notice unaccompanied by such payment (…) shall be
void…’,etc. The text also contains reference to other legal documents (‘clause 6’,
‘section 4 of the hire-purchase act 1938 (as amended)’).
Most verbs are in the Simple Future (formed with shall, in order to
emphasize the legal and obligatory nature of the text); and it also makes use of
non-finite forms of verbs (shall be liable, shall have terminated, etc) It also adds
up to the neutral tone. Declarative sentences dominate, reflecting the obligatory
nature of the document. Noun phrases are extremely long and complex, with many
modifiers in postposition.