this question came from CAT

Last year, the State Assembly failed to pass a balanced budget because they could not agree on certain key provisions.

A. they could not agree on
B. they could not agree about
C. it could not agree about
D. the Assemblymen could not agree about
E. the Assemblymen could not agree on

OA: E

I really cant get the difference between "agree about" and "agree on"

plz help~

Hi Redable,

Good question. If you narrowed your answers down to D vs. E here then you managed to detect the major pronoun error committed in the original sentence so good work!

D vs. E is truly an idiom split. In this case, agree about is unidiomatic so that is why D is eliminated. Idioms are conventions of speech that dictate what prepositions are used with certain verbs, among other things. In this case, the convention is to use "on" with the verb agree. It's easier to "hear" what's correct by removing the idioms from the answer choices and placing them in easier to understand sentences as I do here:

What sounds better?
"The generals could not agree about a course of action."
OR
"The generals could not agree on a course of action."

"Agree on" clearly sounds better so we'd eliminate those answer choices that use "agree about." Note: If you're not hearing a difference hear try a new sentence that may be better suited to your ear.

Attacking idiom problems is tough when you're not sure whether you're dealing with one. So, in the future when you encounter a split that involves word choice and that split doesn't seem to follow a rule of grammar start thinking about idioms again. In those instances remember to remove the idiom from the sentence and use it in an easier sentence. Also, it's helpful to sometimes default to your first instinct with idioms.

One final quick note - if you're a non-native "American" English speaker then I highly recommend you read through the idioms chapter of our SC guide. Some idioms in "American" English differ from those in the "Queen's" English and can cause issues on the GMAT.

Thanks,
Chris

_________________
Chris Brusznicki
MGMAT Instructor
Chicago, IL

Hey, this is in response to the answer of the above question.

It is correct if we say-
The jury did could not take a decision as they were divided in opinion.

Here because the members of jury do not agree among themselves , we can use ' they ' to refer to the jury which has members with divided opinions.

Then why in this question, the it is necessary to mention that members of the state assembly could not agree on certain key issues.

no. "jury" is a collective noun just like "army", "team", and "family". these are all treated as singular on the GMAT..

_________________
Tim Sanders
Manhattan GMAT Instructor