Reference · Five languages

The procurement dictionary, aligned.

Bid teams work across languages, and the vocabulary does not translate one to one: Saudi Arabia says منافسة where Portugal says concurso, and a caution provisoire is a garantía de seriedad two continents away. This table aligns the concepts across TRINTA's five glossaries. A cell is filled only where the correspondence is exact, and every term links its own definition. The empty cells are deliberate: where a language has no equivalent term, saying so is the honest answer.

ConceptEnglishPortuguêsEspañolFrançaisالعربية
Open public tenderPublic tenderConcurso públicoLicitación públicaAppel d'offres ouvertمناقصة عامة
Restricted procedureRestricted procedureConcurso limitado por prévia qualificação·Appel d'offres restreintمناقصة محدودة
Direct awardDirect awardAjuste diretoContratación directaGré à gréالشراء المباشر
Framework agreementFramework agreementAcordo-quadroConvenio marcoAccord-cadreاتفاقية إطارية
PrequalificationPrequalificationSistema de qualificação·Préqualificationالتأهيل المسبق
Contract awardAward noticeAdjudicaçãoAdjudicaciónAttributionالترسية
Tender documentsTender documentsPeças do procedimentoPliegoDAOكراسة الشروط والمواصفات
Technical specificationSpecificationCaderno de encargos·Cahier des charges·
Bid bondBid bondCauçãoGarantía de seriedad de la ofertaCaution provisoireالضمان الابتدائي
Performance bondPerformance bond·Garantía de cumplimientoCaution définitiveالضمان النهائي
Abnormally low tenderAbnormally low tenderPreço anormalmente baixoPrecio anormalmente bajoOffre anormalement basse·
European single procurement documentESPDDEUCP·DUME·
TED, the EU tender journalTEDTEDTEDTED·
Award criteriaAward criteriaCritério de adjudicação···
Best price-quality ratioMEAT··Mieux-disant·
Lowest price award·Monofator preço·Moins-disant·
Consortium / joint bid·Agrupamento concorrenteUnión temporal·الائتلاف
Clarification questions·EsclarecimentosObservaciones·طلب الاستيضاح
Submission deadline·Prazo de apresentação de propostas·Délai de dépôtموعد الإقفال
Deadline extension·Prorrogação e retificação··تمديد الموعد
Addendum to the documents··AdendaAdditif ou rectificatifالملحق
Bid opening··Acta de aperturaPV d'ouverture des plisفتح المظاريف
Technical and financial envelopes··Doble sobreOffre technique et offre financièreالمظروف الفني والمظروف المالي
Challenging an awardProcurement challengeContencioso pré-contratualImpugnación··
Contracting authority·Entidade adjudicante·Autorité contractanteالجهة الطارحة
Estimated / base price·Preço basePresupuesto oficial··
EU thresholdsThresholdLimiares europeus···
Re-tenderRe-tender···إعادة الطرح
Prior information noticePrior information noticeAnúncio de pré-informação···
Local content requirements··Contenido local·المحتوى المحلي
Development-bank procurementDevelopment bank procurement··Bailleurs de fondsالبنوك التنموية
Supplier registration·Documentos de habilitaçãoRUP··

Why the gaps are the point

The dangerous translations in procurement are the almost-right ones: Portugal's audiência prévia is not the EU standstill period, a garantia dos bens is not a performance bond, and forcing those equivalences loses exactly the distinction that decides procedures. Where this table leaves a cell empty, the language's glossary either has no equivalent or the nearest term means something different, and the right move is to read the local definition. Each glossary was written from its own market, never translated, which is what makes the alignment worth publishing.

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