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-   -   "Somebody is agreed on..." and "Somebody agrees on..." (http://www.eslhq.com/forums/esl-forums/english-questions/somebody-agreed-somebody-agrees-20499/)

Oden Nov 19th, 2010 07:12 pm

"Somebody is agreed on..." and "Somebody agrees on..."
 
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Quote:

All the experts were agreed on one point.
- All the experts were agreed on one point.
- All the experts agreed on one point.
Do these examples have the same meaning?

Please take a look at definitions 1 and 2 here:
Definition and pronunciation of agree | Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary
They don't help me find out the difference between the examples.

susan53 Nov 20th, 2010 02:40 am

Re: "Somebody is agreed on..." and "Somebody agrees on..."
 
The meaning is exactly the same.

- All the experts were agreed on one point. "agreed" = adjective, meaning "in agreement". You could also say : All the experts were in agreement on one point.

It's a strange use of the adjective because normally we expect a participle adjective to have passive meaning -as in eg They were tired/surprised/bored/interested etc where the meaning is Something tired/surprised/bored/interested them. But with "agreed" the meaning is active, making it a direct parallel with the verb in ...

- All the experts agreed on one point. "agreed" = past verb

I've been trying to think of another example where a participle adjective has an active meaning like this, but can't off-hand. Anybody?

Oden Nov 21st, 2010 03:32 am

Re: "Somebody is agreed on..." and "Somebody agrees on..."
 
Thank you, Sue.


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