12

A couple of times I've tried to say "I agree with..." or "he agrees with..." but I don't know whether I'm using 同意{どうい}する correctly.

In what ways should に同意{どうい}している be used? Also, which particles should be used? Can only に be used before 同意{どうい}する or are there circumstances where other particles are used as well, such as と and を?

In many examples I've found using 同意{どうい}する, I've seen （だ）ということに or just （な）ことに (the だ/な after na adjectives/nouns and without だ/な after i adjectives/verbs it seems.) Is there a specific reason for using one over the other, e.g. is the longer （だ）ということに more polite, and what do these mean?


Some example sentences:

  • I agree with his opinion:

    彼{かれ}の意見{いけん}に同意{どうい}します。

  • I agree with him that oranges are tasty:

    オレンジはおいしいということ彼{かれ}に同意{どうい}します。

  • He agrees that apples are tasty:

    彼{かれ}はりんごがおいしいことに同意{どうい}します。

  • Many people agree that brussel sprouts don't taste nice:

    芽{め}キャベツはおいしくないということに同意{どうい}する人{ひと}が多{おお}い。


See also: What are the different ways of saying to agree or disagree with a person? for other ways of agreeing/disagreeing with someone.

Community
  • 1
  • 4
    I think 賛成 has the added meaning of "approve" – Flaw Oct 16 '11 at 03:26
  • 2
    I think a common one is 同感【どうかん】. It seems to be a little "softer" and more familiar than 同意【どうい】. – istrasci Oct 16 '11 at 03:39
  • 1
    The example オレンジはおいしいだということに彼に同意します is totally ungrammatical. 芽キャベツはおいしくないだということに同意する人が多い is ungrammatical unless you are referring to some non-standard dialect. –  Oct 16 '11 at 05:36
  • @sawa: Can you give any suggestions on how to fix it please? I used the sentence 自然{しぜん}の保護{ほご}は土地開発{とちかいはつ}よりはるかに重要{じゅうよう}だということに同意{どうい}する人{ひと}が多{おお}い。 (Many people agree that protecting nature is much more important than developing land.) as a reference. –  Oct 16 '11 at 07:26
  • 2
    For オレンジ..., you cannot have two ...に phrases. Remove either. And for the two sentences that I mentioned, remove だと. –  Oct 16 '11 at 07:53
  • @sawa: remove とか or replace it with と to make おいしいということ? (おいしいいうこと doesn't get any google results.) I've edited it to say おいしいということ, but if there's still problems, I'll let anyone edit it (I would make this community wiki but there's no button for it :P) –  Oct 16 '11 at 09:21
  • 1
    @DavidMorrissey Your editing is right. I should have said to remove だ. Sorry. –  Oct 16 '11 at 15:50
  • 「オレンジはおいしいということ彼に同意します。」 is incorrect. 「ということ+彼」はダメです – chocolate Jul 27 '20 at 16:12

1 Answers1

3

You can find a lot of examples here (you may want to check later pages), which will explain a lot.

It seems that we do use "に" for "同意する".

"ということ" literally means "the so-called", which I think is a little more polite.

Also to @sawa, search in the above site with "いという" and "いだという" (I know they are not words nor phrases ...) gives interesting results. It seems that wile i adjectives, "美味しいだということ" can be used.

And I think "オレンジはおいしいということ彼に同意します" is still a little weird, maybe it should be "オレンジがおいしいだということについて彼に同意します。". A phrase with nothing in the end doesn't sound natural. (About "は" and "が", I just feel this way, I am not able to explain it in details.)

BTW, I am not native, so correct me if I am wrong.

chocolate
  • 65,531
  • 5
  • 99
  • 204
fefe
  • 3,508
  • 18
  • 24
  • 「おいしいだということ」 is ungrammatical. Should be 「おいしいということ」. – chocolate Jul 27 '20 at 15:52
  • "いだという" ... gives interesting results <- 「形容詞+だという」の例はありませんが。。 – chocolate Jul 27 '20 at 16:09