agree + preposition

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Teia

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Hi

Could you help me with the following?

Do you agree ……… staying in a foreign country?
a. with b. about c. off d. in

I chose b although I`m not so sure. I know that we can use agree with [ a person], agree on a plan and agree to do smth.

Can I use `Do you agree about staying in a foreign country` ? It sounds rather odd to me.

Thank you very much in advance.
 

emsr2d2

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Hi

Could you help me with the following?

Do you agree ……… staying in a foreign country?
a. with b. about c. off d. in

I chose b although I`m not so sure. I know that we can use agree with [ a person], agree on a plan and agree to do smth.

Can I use `Do you agree about staying in a foreign country` ? It sounds rather odd to me.

Thank you very much in advance.

To be honest, none of them make any sense with "staying in a foreign country" as the rest of the sentence!!

Do you agree with staying....? Makes no sense - are you asking if the person agrees with the concept of living abroad?

Do you agree about......? No, we never say "agree about".

Do you agree off......? We never say "agree off".

Do you agree in .....? We never say "agree in".

On the basis that the final three choices don't exist in English, I can only imagine that they think a) is right, but I don't agree! Gramatically it's correct, but it makes little sense.
 

Teia

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Hi

Thank you for your reply. I have been reading an English grammar test for an hour and I am trying to rewrite some of the subjects which I consider to be wrong. The sentence above is one of them. I teach some students and, thus, I prepare some materials for them. In that case what preposition shall I write? Could I use on or to? What is your opinion on that? What would you choose?
As far as I am concerned, I would choose on. Is my choice correct?

And again, thank you so much for your quick reply.

Here is the site I have found the exercise:

http://www.didactic.ro/files/2/semestrialtestpaperii_2008.pdf [ question nr. 7]
 
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Teia

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Such a test [ semestrial test paper, bla, bla, etc] is supposed to be correctly formulated; it should not [ in fact, it must not] contain any ambiguous items of English grammar, otherwise the students are put into fog [ this is a Romanian phrase translated ad litteram into English - I don`t know the equivalent English one :)]

Nonetheless, there are some enlightened minds which [ I consider that who is not appropriate in this case] make blunders - and these, of course - should not make such mistakes. That`s the reason why I prefer to enter this forum where I can meet real teachers - native speakers - who can help and guide me.
 
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2006

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Hi

Could you help me with the following?

Do you agree ……… staying in a foreign country?
a. with b. about c. off d. in

I chose b although I`m not so sure. I know that we can use agree with [ a person], agree on a plan and agree to do smth.
You can also agree with an idea or plan. Do you agree with (the idea/plan of) staying in a foreign country? There is an ellipsis.
I think "with" is the only acceptable answer, and it is quite acceptable to me.
Thank you very much in advance.
2006
 

Teia

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Hi 2006!

Oh, then I have to revise my attitude to all of this:)

What about using on or to? Could they be correct too?

Thank you very much for helping me.
 

2006

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Do you agree in .....? We never say "agree in".
The only (good) example I can think of now is 'agree in principle'.
2006
 

Teia

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Oh, thank you.

Agree in principle... . Interesting point of view. I`ll have to remember this.
 

Teia

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Hi 2006!

One more question if you don`t mind.
What part of Canada do you live in?

I like the name of that province, Saskatchewan. It sounds very musical.
 

2006

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Hi 2006!

Oh, then I have to revise my attitude toward all of this:)

What about using on or to? Could they be correct too? no and no

Thank you very much for helping me. You're welcome!
I live in the province just west of Saskatchewan. ;-)
 

Teia

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I live in the province just west of Saskatchewan. ;-)


Wow! Lucky you! What a strange coincidence to ask you this question and then you tell me that you live west of Saskatchewan! Wonderful! I wish I lived there too. I don`t know why I love so much English language. I have been studying it since I was 10 years old [ for about 40 years or so]and it has never crossed my mind to give up.There must be an explanation; not a simple one, I guess. It might be something related to the fact that my father was half German or it might be some other explanation, one I will never understand.
 

Raymott

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Hi

Could you help me with the following?

Do you agree ……… staying in a foreign country?
a. with b. about c. off d. in

I chose b although I`m not so sure. I know that we can use agree with [ a person], agree on a plan and agree to do smth.

Can I use `Do you agree about staying in a foreign country` ? It sounds rather odd to me.

Thank you very much in advance.
I know it's late in the thread, but I think 'about' is OK. It sounds odd out of context though.

"Do you agree with your brother about staying in a foreign country."
Right.
"Do you agree with your brother with staying in a foreign country." Not right.

A: Do you agree with him?
B: About what? [NOT "With what"]
A: About staying in a foreign country. Do you agree about staying in a foreign country?
 
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