agree on and agree to

[jiang]

Dear teachers,
I find it difficult to distinguish 'agree on' and 'agree to' in the following sentence:

It si all a matter of vocabulary probably, for no two scholars have ever agreed on a definition of magic.

Could you please kindly explain if there is any difference I use 'agree to' instead of 'agree on' ?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

[RonBee]

Both are used. You can also agree with something or somebody. (There may be a way to help you in deciding which to use. If there is, Cas will come up with it.)

:)

[Tdol]

You would 'agree on' a policy if you were part of the group formulating it and 'agree with' it if you heard about it and thought it was a good idea.

[jiang]

:)
Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.

Jiang

Originally Posted by tdol

You would 'agree on' a policy if you were part of the group formulating it and 'agree with' it if you heard about it and thought it was a good idea.

[MikeNewYork]

Originally Posted by jiang

Dear teachers,
I find it difficult to distinguish 'agree on' and 'agree to' in the following sentence:

It si all a matter of vocabulary probably, for no two scholars have ever agreed on a definition of magic.

Could you please kindly explain if there is any difference I use 'agree to' instead of 'agree on' ?

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

IMO, "agree on" means agree with each other about something. "Agree to" means to accept some proposal.

If two people agree on something, they agree with each other.
If two people agree to something they each agree to accept something outside them. They may not have ever met.

[jiang]

Thank you very much for your explanation. Now I see.
Jiang

Originally Posted by MikeNewYork

IMO, "agree on" means agree with each other about something. "Agree to" means to accept some proposal.

If two people agree on something, they agree with each other.
If two people agree to something they each agree to accept something outside them. They may not have ever met.

[RonBee]

The boys agreed on a time for the game. (It was their idea.)

The boys agreed to behave themselves. (It was their teacher's idea.)

:)

Originally Posted by RonBee

The boys agreed on a time for the game. (It was their idea.)

The boys agreed to behave themselves. (It was their teacher's idea.)

:)

I have heard that you can say " I agree with that proposal." in AE?

In some grammar book, it says you have to use "agree to" and
"agree with " can only be use like "agree with sb.".

Any comments on that?

[Francois]

You agree with someone/something that express an opinion (a person, a proposal...)
You agree on something that is discussed (date, action...)
You agree to do something
You agree that + clause (eg. he should be given a bonus)
They can't agree whether + clause (eg. they should raise the interest rate).

FRC

[jiang]

:)
Thank you for joining the discussion. May I ask another question which has nothing to do with English. It seems to me your name is a French name. Could you please tell whether there is a website like English Forum that helps those people who are learning French and who have questions to ask? I ask so because I am learning French.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Thank you in advance.

Jiang

Originally Posted by Francois

You agree with someone/something that express an opinion (a person, a proposal...)
You agree on something that is discussed (date, action...)
You agree to do something
You agree that + clause (eg. he should be given a bonus)
They can't agree whether + clause (eg. they should raise the interest rate).

FRC