Your neighbors want to use the shared courtyard for an afternoon together. Someone suggests a plant swap, but nobody has checked the time, the space, or whether the group supports it. Having an idea is progress; it is not the same as having an agreed arrangement.
This comparison helps you describe the current stage without making the plan sound more settled than it is. For a complete invitation between friends, read Making Plans in English.
Three useful planning moves
| Expression | What it foregrounds | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Come up with | Produce or find an idea, plan, or solution. | “Nora came up with a plant-swap idea.” |
| Work out | Resolve, devise, or calculate something through thought or discussion. | “We need to work out how much space we'll need.” |
| Agree on | Reach a shared decision about something. | “We've agreed on a two o'clock start.” |
These expressions can overlap. “Come up with a plan” and “work out a plan” can both describe producing a plan. Do not treat one as universally correct and the other as universally wrong. The emphasis and the surrounding facts guide the choice.
An idea does not imply group approval
Come up with names the production or discovery of something needed. It need not be brilliant, original, difficult, or accepted:
“I've come up with an idea: everyone could bring one plant to exchange.”
That sentence gives the group a proposal to consider. It does not establish permission to use the courtyard or agreement about the date.
The object follows with: “come up with an idea” or “come up with it.” Do not split the phrase into “come an idea up with.” The past form is “came up with,” and the present perfect is “have come up with.”
Practice everyday English in context
Explore situations and examples in the General English hub.
Explore General English →“Work out” can describe unfinished planning
“We're working out where to put the tables.”
Here, work out focuses on resolving a practical detail. The progressive form makes the ongoing process visible. “We've worked out where to put them” presents that question as resolved.
The object can be a noun or a question clause: “work out the layout,” “work out how many tables we need,” or “work out whether the courtyard is large enough.” With a pronoun object in this sense, use “work it out,” not “work out it.”
For wider meanings, including calculations and outcomes, see the professional work-out guide. Here, we are describing an arrangement being developed, not predicting that it will succeed.
“Agree on” tells the listener there is a shared decision
“We've agreed on Sunday afternoon.”
This identifies something the relevant people have settled together. It does not mean every other detail is finished. You can agree on the date while still working out the layout.
Compare “agree with Nora,” which can express support for her view, with “agree on a date,” which names the shared choice. “Agree to help” is another pattern: it names an action you accept or undertake. Choose the complement that says what the agreement concerns.
Bad for the facts: “We've agreed on a plant swap for Sunday.” Nora suggested it, but the others have not replied.
Better: “Nora has come up with a plant-swap idea. We're waiting to hear whether Sunday works for everyone.”
The better version distinguishes a proposal from a group decision. It does not imply that “come up with” could never describe a fully developed plan.
A dialogue that marks progress
Nora: I've come up with an idea for the courtyard: a plant swap.
Ben: I like it. Have we agreed on a day?
Nora: Not yet. Sunday afternoon is one option.
Ben: We should work out how many tables we need before asking to use the space.
Nora: I'll count the people interested. Then we can check the layout.
The proposal exists, the date remains open, and a practical question needs resolving. Each sentence reports a different part of the planning state.
Check what is settled
A group has unanimously chosen Saturday. It is still discussing how to fit six tables in the room. Which update matches the facts?
A. “We've agreed on Saturday, and we're still working out the layout.”
B. “We've finished the layout, but nobody has agreed on a day.”
Show the answer
A. The date is settled and the layout is unresolved. B reverses both facts. The distinction depends on the stated planning status, not a rigid ban on overlapping vocabulary.
Practice reporting the current stage
Write a short update about a group plan. Name one proposal, one shared decision, and one question still being resolved. Use clear tense choices so the reader can tell completed decisions from work in progress.
Explore Making Plans, then Talking About Uncertain Plans. Find related lessons in the General English guides.
Return to the General English hub to choose another everyday situation.