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Guest Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

Agreement

-They couldn't get an agreement as far as their children's education is concerned.
-They coudn't reach an agreement as far as their children's education is concerned.

Are these two sentences correct?
  

Top answer

We normally "reach", "come to", or "arrive at" an agreement. We don't "get" an agreement, at least not in the context you have given. Therefore the second sentence is correct, the first isn't.

— Taiwandave

  • We normally "reach", "come to", or "arrive at" an agreement.
  • We don't "get" an agreement, at least not in the context you have given.
  • Therefore the second sentence is correct, the first isn't.
  • Because you are using the past-tense modal auxiliary "could", I suggest that you switch to the past simple in the subordinate clause: They coudn't reach an agreement as far as their children's education was concerned.
  • An alternative would be to subsitute "can", which has a present-time meaning: They can't reach an agreement as far as their children's education is concerned.
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3 Answers
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We normally "reach", "come to", or "arrive at" an agreement. We don't "get" an agreement, at least not in the context you have given. Therefore the second sentence is correct, the first isn't.

Because you are using the past-tense modal auxiliary "could", I suggest that you switch to the past simple in the subordinate clause:

They coudn't reach an agreement as far as their chil
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How about "get to" an agreement? Is that correct? i wonder if it is!
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The following may be correct, but I don't like the way it sounds:

After many hours of negotiation, they finally got to an agreement.

In connection with an agreement, "get" is more often used without the "to", as in:

I got his agreement on the proposal.
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