Archive for November 14, 2010

idiom: to (not) see eye to eye

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In my very first blog, I mentioned today’s idiom briefly, but it’s a very common expression so I’d like to go over it again in more detail today. The expression is to not “see eye to eye” with someone. It is used when we want to talk about not agreeing with someone. It is usually used in the negative. For example:

My boss and I don’t see eye to eye about where to open the new branch.

Last night, my friend and I didn’t see eye to eye about what to eat for dinner.

My sister and brother never see eye to eye about what to watch on TV.

My husband and I don’t see eye to eye about movies. He likes action movies and I like comedies.

As I mentioned, this expression is usually used in the negative, but sometimes it can be used in questions. For example:

A: Do you and your husband always see eye to eye about everything?

B: No, of course not!

Sometimes, it’s possible to use it in a positive sentence, but these cases are much less common. For example:

I’m glad we see eye to eye about this project.

As you can see, we use the preposition “about” when talking about the topic that the two people either agree or disagree about, and we use “with” when talking about the person that the person agrees or disagrees with.

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