agree

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verb [not usually progressive] British English pronunciation: agree

/əˈɡriː/

present tense
I/you/we/they	agree
he/she/it	agrees
present participle	agreeing
past tense	agreed
past participle	agreed

1
[intransitive/transitive] to have the same opinion as someone else
Doreen thought that the house was too small, and Jim agreed.
agree with:
I agree with my mother about most things.
I entirely agree with the comments you made about public transport.
agree (that):
We all agree that we should celebrate this event.
it is agreed (that):
It is generally agreed that we should eat less fat and more vegetables.
agree on/about:
The committee members all agree on the need for more information.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of agree
2
[intransitive] to say that you will do something that someone else wants or suggests
I asked her to marry me, and she agreed.
agree to do something:
The school agreed to send the students on the course.
agree to:
We have agreed to their request for a full investigation.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of agree
1. a.
  [intransitive/transitive] to decide together what will be done and how it will be done
  Yesterday management and unions agreed a pay deal.
  agree on/upon:
  We need to agree on a date for our next meeting.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of agree
3
[intransitive] if two pieces of information agree, they are the same or suggest the same thing
The statements given by the two witnesses did not agree.
agree with:
The observations agree with the predictions we made earlier.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of agree

phrases

agree to differ/disagree
to accept that someone else does not have the same opinion as you and agree not to argue about it any more
On that point, we’ll have to agree to differ.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of agree
I couldn’t agree more
spoken
used for emphasizing that you agree with something that someone has said
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of agree

phrasal verbs

agree with

See also

Get It Right!: agree

When you want to say that you approve of something or think it is the right thing to do, use the pattern ‘agree with something’ (not ‘agree something’):

✗ Most Hong Kong women do not agree abortion.

✓ Most Hong Kong women do not agree with abortion.

✗ I do not agree this policy.

✓ I do not agree with this policy.

You can also use the pattern agree with doing something:

✗ As a non-smoker, I agree banning smoking in restaurants.

✓ As a non-smoker, I agree with banning smoking in restaurants.

Don’t use the pattern ‘agree to something’ when you want to express this meaning:

✗ I agree to this opinion to some extent.

✓ I agree with this opinion to some extent.

✗ I agree to construct a second railway link to the mainland.

✓ I agree with constructing a second railway link to the mainland.

To agree to something or agree to do something means that you will do something that someone wants you to do:

Both sides agreed to some modifications in the proposals.

In the end I agreed to do the job.

Agree is rarely used with a direct object. In this use, it means ‘to decide something together’ and it is mainly used when talking about official decision-making bodies and organizations.

Yesterday management and unions agreed a pay deal.

Ministers met to agree a strategy for tackling climate change.

Expressing yourself: agree

Examples:

‘It’s supposed to be a very good school.’ ‘That’s right. They get great results.’ ♦ ‘He’s really boring, isn’t he?’ ‘Oh, I know, he never stops talking about himself.’

‘When we were young, people didn’t get into debt.’ ‘Exactly. You just bought what you could afford.’ ♦ ‘I think Jacob is the best person for the job.’ ‘Absolutely. I’ll be amazed if he doesn’t get it.’ ♦ ‘We had to wait three months to get a phone line – it’s ridiculous.’ ‘I couldn’t agree more.’

‘It’s so cold outside!’ ‘You can say that again!’ ♦ ‘The buses are so unreliable!’ ‘You’re telling me! I’ve been waiting here for half an hour.’

‘Let’s go to the cinema tonight.’ ‘Why not? We haven’t been for ages.’

‘We’ll have to get some new tyres.’ ‘I suppose so/I guess so. But it will be expensive.’

➡ disagree

This is the British English definition of agree. View American English definition of agree.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

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