# agreement

/əˈɡɹimənt/ (US) · /ɐɡɹˈiːmənt/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/agreement
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. shared opinion

noun · CEFR B1

a situation where people have the same opinion or feeling about something.

For teachers: the state of sharing a view, opinion, or purpose; a lack of contradiction between parties.

- The two managers reached an agreement on how to handle the new project.
- There was general agreement among the board members that the current strategy required significant revision before the next fiscal year.

### 2. formal arrangement

noun · CEFR B1

a formal decision or promise between two or more people or groups.

For teachers: a negotiated arrangement or understanding between entities to follow a specific course of conduct.

- The neighbors made a verbal agreement to share the cost of the new fence.
- The ceasefire agreement was signed after weeks of intense diplomatic pressure from international mediators.

### 3. legal contract

noun · CEFR B2 · Formal

a written document that is legally binding.

For teachers: a legally enforceable contract or document that outlines specific obligations and rights.

- Make sure you read the rental agreement carefully before you sign it.
- The merger agreement contained several clauses designed to protect the interests of minority shareholders during the transition period.

### 4. grammar matching

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical · Academic

a rule where words in a sentence must match in number, gender, or person.

For teachers: the grammatical correspondence between words in a sentence, such as a verb matching its subject in number.

- In English, we must have agreement between the subject and the verb.
- The student struggled with gender agreement when learning Spanish, often forgetting to change the adjective endings to match the nouns.

Usage: Often used with the preposition 'between' or 'with'.

Teaching tip: In EFL contexts, this usually refers to 'subject-verb agreement', which is a common area for learner errors.

## Examples

- We finally reached an agreement on the new price.
- After hours of intense negotiation, both companies signed a formal agreement to share their research data.
- The legal validity of the agreement depends entirely on whether both parties entered into the contract without any form of external pressure or coercion.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.