Agree to和Agree With
宋德富
高中(英语)第—册(教参)(p65)在读agree to和agree with的差异时说:Agree to的意思是同意…”、“赞成…”,后面接表示“提议”、“办法”、“计划”等词,例如:
1.I agree TO the proposal (the plan).我同意这个提议(计划)。
2. Do you agree TO this arrangement?你赞成这个安排吗?
但很多词典上都既有agree TO a proposal也有agree WITH a proposal的例句。T.T Wood博士则说过:”When a proposal or a fact is concerned we may either agree WITH it or agree TO it. (对某项建议或事情,我们可说agree WITH it或agree TO it“(见《英汉动词成语双解词典》p4)另外,跟动名问时也既有跟WITH又有跟TO的例句:
3.Do you agree TO our going through this room?你允许我们穿过这个房间吗?(《英汉双解英语短语动词词典》p 5)
4.I don't agree WITH people smoking all day long.我不赞成有些人整天吸烟吸个不停。(同上p 6)
那么agree TO和agree WITH后面跟同一个名词或动名词的差异何在呢?
大家知道agree WITH sb主要是表示一个人对某事的想法、观点、意思跟另一人相同。因此当宾语是以下的抽象名词时也用介词WITH:idea,opinion,view,point of view,attitude,stand,principle,judgement,theory,conclusion etc例如:
5.She agrees WITH their view.她同意他们的观点。
6.He agreed WITH the doctor's theory他赞同该博士的理论。
Agree TO的含义是“答应”、“接受”,它后面往往表示—个动作。当某人建议你干某事,你愿意去做。这时应用agree TO:
7.He did not agree TO our staying up late.他不同意我们晚睡。(有人建议这样)
8.I asked him for permission,and he agreed TO my going我征求他允许,他同意我去。
9.They did not agree TO selling the apples at such a high price.他们不同意以如此高价出售苹果。(有人建议这样做)
10. The basketball teams agreed TO a return match.篮球队答应再搞一次比赛。
由于agree后面表示的是一个动作,含义是“答应或同意(包括别人)去做某事;agree with仅是表示“赞许”、“赞同”,因此在跟suggestion, proposal, decision等一类表示建议和事实的单词时,用agree TO表示同意做所建议或所决定了的事;用agree WITH说明某人认为有关的建议,决定是好的,表示赞成。
11. The workers did not agree WITH the decision to close the factory. 工人们不赞成关闭工厂的决定。(工人们牵涉不到关闭这一动作,仅就这个决定表示一个意见。)
12. The workers did not agree TO the decision to speed up the machine. 工人们不同意要机器加速的决定。(厂方决定,工人们不执行)
动名词前既可用TO,也可用WITH,其差异也出于TO后表示动作,WITH是对既成事实表示一个态度:
13. Their parents do not agree TO their watching TV every evening。(The parents will not allow it)父母亲不答应他们每晚都看电视。(孩于们征求意见,父母不允许。)
14.Their parents didn't agree WITH their watching TV every evening.(They do watch every evening and their parents disapprove)父母亲是不赞成它们每晚都看电视的。(他们在这样做,父母亲不赞成)
这样句3和句4的差异也就不必赘述了。
由于agree TO不是简单表态而是要去实施,因此我们可能答应(agree TO)某事,而实际上我们并不赞成(agree WITH),请看例句:
15. They agreed TO the proposal though they did not actually agree WITH it.(《英语短语动词词典》P 5—6)他们对这个建议虽然并不真正赞同,但还是接受了。
下面两句就只能用TO,不能用WITH:
16.They agreed TO the proposal only under protest他们只是在不得已的情况下才接受那个提议的。
17.The workers would strike unless the employer agreed TO the terms within 24 hours.雇主若在二十四小时内不答应工人的条件,工人们就要举行罢工。
华中师范大学英语系《中小学外语》编辑部
中小学外语11/1988