The preposition amb presents a participant, object, or quality as accompanying an event: a person comes amb tu, a door is opened amb una clau, and someone answers amb calma. English with often matches it, but not always. Catalan uses the preposition to distinguish accompaniment, instrument, manner, and a lexically selected complement—relations that English may leave to word order or a different function word.
Form and pronunciation
Amb never elides and does not contract with an article: amb el metge, amb els nens, amb la directora, amb l’amiga. Its spelling is stable across the standard language even though everyday pronunciation varies considerably. The final consonant may be weak, assimilated, or absent on the surface in Central and Balearic speech; Valencian pronunciation is often more consonantal. Write amb in every region and register.
Personal pronouns remain separate: amb mi, amb tu, amb ell, amb ella, amb nosaltres, amb vosaltres, amb ells. Catalan has no standard equivalents of Spanish conmigo and contigo.
Demà dinaré amb la meva germana i després anirem amb ella a l’hospital.
Tomorrow I’ll have lunch with my sister, and afterward we’ll go with her to the hospital.
Vols seure amb mi o prefereixes quedar-te amb els teus amics?
Do you want to sit with me, or would you rather stay with your friends?
Decision table: what role does the amb phrase have?
| Role | Question | Example |
|---|---|---|
| company or accompaniment | together with whom/what? | venir amb l’Ona |
| instrument | using what? | tallar amb unes tisores |
| manner or attitude | in what manner? | respondre amb respecte |
| associated feature | having/wearing what? | una dona amb barret |
| selected complement | what does the word require? | parlar amb, d’acord amb |
| passive agent | by whom? | normally per, not amb |
Company and accompaniment
The clearest use joins one participant to another. The amb phrase is not necessarily part of the grammatical subject: La Berta viatja amb l’Èric has Berta as subject and Èric as companion. If both are intended as a coordinated subject, say La Berta i l’Èric viatgen and use plural agreement.
Aquest vespre venen a sopar amb els nens, així que serem vuit.
They’re coming to dinner with the children this evening, so there’ll be eight of us.
Quan estudiava a Girona, compartia pis amb dues companyes de la facultat.
When I was studying in Girona, I shared a flat with two classmates from university.
The distinction matters for agreement. El pare amb els fills ha arribat makes el pare the singular subject and adds the children as companions. El pare i els fills han arribat coordinates all three as a plural subject. In ordinary speech the first order may sound heavy; if everyone is equally central, coordination is clearer.
Instrument, material used, and means
Amb marks a concrete instrument manipulated in carrying out an action: a key, knife, pencil, or cloth. The instrument is not the agent. This makes a useful contrast in passive clauses.
La porta va ser oberta per la conserge amb una clau mestra.
The door was opened by the caretaker with a master key.
Here per la conserge marks the agent and amb una clau mestra marks the instrument. Replacing one preposition with the other would exchange their roles.
Eixuga la taula amb aquest drap abans de posar-hi els plats.
Wipe the table with this cloth before putting the plates on it.
English with is broader than Catalan amb. Established Catalan phrases may use a or en instead: escriure a mà (“write by hand”), anar a peu (“go on foot”), viatjar en tren (“travel by train”). Escriure amb un llapis identifies a particular tool, whereas escriure a llapis classifies the technique or medium. Both can be natural, but their focus differs.
Manner, attitude, and accompanying state
With an abstract noun, amb can describe how someone acts: amb cura, amb paciència, amb entusiasme, amb mala cara. The phrase contributes an accompanying attitude or manner, often where English uses an -ly adverb.
La infermera ens ho va explicar amb molta paciència, tot i que tenia pressa.
The nurse explained it to us very patiently, even though she was in a hurry.
Obre el paquet amb compte, que a dins hi ha dues copes de vidre.
Open the package carefully; there are two wine glasses inside.
Do not assume amb + any noun creates an adverb. The combinations are conventional. Catalan says de pressa, a poc a poc, and en silenci, not forms mechanically built with amb. Learn frequent manner phrases as units.
An amb phrase can also describe a feature that accompanies a noun or person: una habitació amb balcó, un noi amb ulleres, cafè amb llet. In this use it sits inside the noun phrase rather than modifying the verb.
Busquem un pis petit amb balcó i amb prou llum per treballar-hi.
We’re looking for a small flat with a balcony and enough light to work there.
Selected complements
Some verbs and adjectives require or strongly favor amb. High-frequency combinations include parlar amb (a person), casar-se amb, trobar-se amb, comptar amb, topar amb, conformar-se amb, estar d’acord amb, ser compatible amb, and estar enfadat amb. The choice belongs to the lexical item and cannot be predicted from English alone.
The broader inventory and its syntactic tests appear in prepositions selected by verbs.
Ja he parlat amb l’advocada i comptem amb ella per a la reunió de dilluns.
I’ve already spoken with the lawyer, and we’re counting on her for Monday’s meeting.
No estic d’acord amb la manera com han comunicat la decisió.
I don’t agree with the way they announced the decision.
Spanish sometimes provides the same preposition, but treating Spanish con as an automatic template still causes errors. Catalan says somiar amb algú (“dream about someone”) and amenaçar amb una sanció, but it says enamorar-se d’algú, not amb algú. English alternates between with, to, about, and no preposition at all; learn each Catalan government pattern separately.
Selected amb complements can often be represented by hi, especially with things or an established topic: No comptàvem amb aquest retard, però ara ja hi comptem. With a person, the full stressed phrase amb ell/ella is often clearer, though hi is possible in appropriate discourse.
Scope and attachment
Because an amb phrase can modify either a verb or a noun, its position can create genuine ambiguity. Vaig veure la veïna amb els prismàtics can mean that I used binoculars or that the neighbor had them. Restructure the sentence rather than expecting punctuation alone to solve it.
Amb els prismàtics, vaig veure la veïna que esperava l’autobús.
Using the binoculars, I saw the neighbor who was waiting for the bus.
Vaig veure la veïna que duia els prismàtics penjats al coll.
I saw the neighbor who had the binoculars hanging around her neck.
The first sentence fronts the instrument, while the second embeds possession in the relative clause. Fronting can shift information focus without changing the selected preposition.
Catalan also keeps amb before an interrogative or relative form. Say Amb qui has vingut? and la persona amb qui treballo. Copying English stranding (Who did you come with?) produces a structure that standard Catalan normally avoids.
A natural dialogue
—Amb qui vas al concert? —Amb la Clàudia. Hi anirem amb cotxe i, si plou, entrarem amb els paraigües plegats dins d’una bossa.
—Who are you going to the concert with? —With Clàudia. We’ll go by car and, if it rains, we’ll go in with the umbrellas folded inside a bag.
The dialogue uses amb for company, a vehicle, and an accompanying object/state. Hi anirem en cotxe is equally standard: with means of transport, amb and en are both accepted, and preference varies by speaker and region.
Regional and register notes
Amb is standard in IEC and AVL norms and throughout the Catalan-speaking area. Older texts may contain ab, an (archaic) form that learners should recognize but not use in contemporary prose. Phonetic reductions are normal (informal) speech features, not alternative spellings. Both amb and en are accepted with vehicles, though their frequency varies across speakers and regions. None of these variants licenses Spanish fused pronouns.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vols venir amb jo al mercat?
Incorrect — after amb, use the stressed prepositional form mi.
✅ Vols venir amb mi al mercat?
Do you want to come to the market with me?
❌ Parlaré contigo quan acabi.
Incorrect — Catalan does not use the Spanish fused form contigo.
✅ Parlaré amb tu quan acabi.
I’ll talk to you when I finish.
❌ La finestra va ser trencada amb un lladre.
Incorrect if the thief is the agent; amb would present the thief as an instrument or companion.
✅ La finestra va ser trencada per un lladre.
The window was broken by a thief.
❌ La persona qui treballo és molt exigent.
Incorrect — treballar amb requires amb before the relative form.
✅ La persona amb qui treballo és molt exigent.
The person I work with is very demanding.
❌ S’ha enamorat amb una companya de feina.
Incorrect — standard Catalan enamorar-se selects de, despite English with and Spanish interference.
✅ S’ha enamorat d’una companya de feina.
He has fallen in love with a coworker.
Short correction task
Correct amb jo, la professora que parlaves, and obert amb la directora when the director performed the opening. The answers are amb mi, la professora amb qui parlaves, and obert per la directora. The repairs distinguish pronoun form, selected complement, and passive agent.
Key Takeaways
- Use amb for company, concrete instruments, established manner phrases, and selected complements.
- Keep pronouns separate: amb mi, amb tu, amb ella.
- Distinguish agent per from instrument amb; with transport, both amb and en are possible, while a peu and a cavall are fixed with a.
- Meaning can change with attachment: front or expand an ambiguous amb phrase.
- Keep the preposition before interrogatives and relatives: amb qui, never an English-style stranded structure.
Now practice Catalan
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Catalan →Related Topics
- The Preposition EnA1 — Use Catalan en for selected static locations, transport, time spans, manner phrases, and lexically selected complements, while distinguishing it from a and the clitic en.
- The Preposition PerA1 — Use Catalan per for causes, routes, exchange, agents, rates, limited duration, communication channels, and common fixed expressions.
- Prepositions Selected by VerbsB1 — Learn high-frequency Catalan verb–preposition patterns, the meaning contrasts they encode, and how to read and remember dictionary government.
- Prepositions Selected by AdjectivesB1 — Build Catalan adjective complements with de, a, en, amb, and per while distinguishing required arguments from optional circumstances.
- Hi for Prepositional ComplementsB1 — Use hi to resume known complements governed by a, en, amb, or per without confusing them with direct and indirect objects.