What is the difference between agree on, agree with and agree to?

Does the preposition change the meaning?

How can I use the verb with the correct preposition?

This is a great question as these three collocations are often confused or mistaken for one another and as a result, are used incorrectly by many English learners.

Agree on needs to be followed by an idea or situation. For example:

• The family agreed on the relocation of the family home to the countryside, living in the city had become too expensive for this growing family and they knew their quality of life would be better living away from the busy city.

Agree with should be followed by a person, situation or idea. For example:

• John had read about the benefits of shorter working days for employers and employees. He decided to propose this new way of work to his boss and was hoping that he would agree with John.

Agree to needs to be followed by a verb. For example:

• The political party agreed to increase the social welfare provided to single-parent families by five percent next year.

It is important to understand the difference between these collocations as they each have a slightly different meaning depending on the preposition being used with the verb agree.

Let’s see how the meaning changes with each verb and preposition combination.

When we agree on something it means we come to a mutually acceptable decision or arrangement together, we have the same opinion about a certain idea, beliefs, standards, etc.

For example:

• Before any new employee signs a contract, it is recommended that he/she reads the content carefully and agrees on the terms outlined in the contract.
• While establishing the business plan, the team had to agree on their target audience and marketing strategies appropriate for this particular audience.

Agree with has a similar meaning, we usually agree with someone about something like an idea or opinion.

For example:

• I agreed with my new employer, she suggested that I take the work contract home so I can read through it carefully and decide whether I am happy with the terms of the contract.
• The marketing team felt that it was important to analyze the competition before committing to a particular target audience, the team leader agreed with the other members of the team.

Agree to has a slightly different meaning. To agree to something means to promise or commit to something.

For example:

• The employee agreed to take the job contract home and evaluate the details provided in the contract before signing the contract.
• The marketing team agreed to gather and study information about the target audience before creating an appropriate marketing strategy.