með: 'with', and the Comitative

með is the everyday Icelandic word for "with," and it is one of the most frequent prepositions in the language. It is also a two-case preposition with a genuine meaning split — and not the usual two-case split (motion vs. location) you meet with í and á. With með, the case tracks the kind of "with": með + dative for accompaniment ("with my friends") and instrument ("with a knife"), but með + accusative for carrying or bringing something along — vera með peninga ("have money on you"), koma með bók ("bring a book"). The accusative side is the one that surprises learners, because the default assumption is "með always takes the dative." It does not. The accusative vera með is, moreover, the single most common way Icelanders say "to have something on them" — so this is not an obscure corner; it is core daily speech. (This page assumes the basic two-case mechanism from two-case prepositions; here we focus on the með-specific split.)

með + dative: accompaniment and instrument

The dative is the "default" með in the sense that it covers two of the most natural meanings of "with":

Accompaniment — being or going with a person or thing, in their company:

Instrument — the tool or means with which you do something. "Cut with a knife," "write with a pen," "pay with a card": the instrument goes in the dative.

So when "with" means alongside (a companion) or by means of (a tool), reach for the dative. This is the með that lines up with the language's general use of the dative for instruments and accompaniment, and it is what most learners already expect.

með + accusative: carrying, bringing, having along

Now the half that surprises. When með expresses having something on you, carrying it, or bringing it along — the object that travels with you as cargo rather than as company — it takes the accusative. The clearest contrast: you go með vini þínum (dative — your friend, your companion) but you bring með þér bók (accusative — a book, your cargo). The friend accompanies you; the book is carried by you.

The verb koma með ("bring," literally "come with") is the workhorse here, and it always takes the accusative for the thing brought — koma með bók, köku, vínflösku. The same accusative logic covers taka með ("take along") and hafa með sér ("have with one"). The mental picture that keeps the case straight: company is dative, cargo is accusative. A person you are with is a companion (dative); a thing you have with you is being carried (accusative).

vera með + accusative: the everyday "have on you"

This is the most important pattern on the page, and the one that genuinely surprises English speakers. vera með + accusative is the ordinary, daily way to say you have something on your person — money in your pocket, your phone, a pen, a car with you. It is not eiga ("own"); it is "have on/with me right now." And it takes the accusative:

This vera með is so frequent that learners who get it wrong sound off constantly. Note the crucial nuance against eiga ("own, possess"). Áttu bíl? asks whether you own a car at all; ertu með bíl? asks whether you have one available right now — perhaps a friend's, perhaps a rental — to use this moment. Likewise ég á ekki pening ("I have no money," I'm broke) differs from ég er ekki með pening (á mér) ("I don't have money on me" right now, though I may have plenty at home). The accusative vera með is about present availability on your person, and that is exactly what English buries inside the bare verb "have."

Putting the split side by side

The whole system fits in one contrast. The same noun can go in either case depending on whether it is company/instrument (dative) or cargo/possession (accusative):

A nice minimal pair: ég fór með konunni minni ("I went with my wife" — she accompanied me, dative) versus ég var með myndavélina mína ("I had my camera with me" — it was cargo I carried, accusative). The wife is company; the camera is carried. Once you hear the difference between "with whom" and "carrying what," the case follows automatically.

Why English speakers misfile the case

English uses one word, with, for all of this — "with my friends," "with a knife," "I have money with me" — so nothing in the English signals which Icelandic case to use. Worse, two reasonable but wrong heuristics push learners off course. The first is "með always takes the dative," learned from the very common accompaniment use; it produces *ertu með peningum? for ertu með pening? The second is the English verb have: because "I have money" feels like simple possession, learners reach for eiga (ég á pening) when they mean "I have money on me," which is ég er með pening. The fix is to stop translating "with" as a single word and instead ask the two diagnostic questions: is this company or instrument? → dative; is this something I'm carrying or have on me? → accusative. Those two questions resolve almost every með you will ever need.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• með is two-case, and the split is by meaning: dative for accompaniment and instrument, accusative for carrying/having along.
• með + dative = "with" as company (með vinum mínum) or instrument (með hnífi, með korti).
• með + accusative = bring/take along (koma með bók, taka með sér) and, above all, have on one's person: vera með (ertu með símann?, ég er með pening).
• vera með + accusative is the everyday "have (on you right now)," distinct from eiga ("own"): ertu með bíl? (available now) vs áttu bíl? (own one).
• Diagnostic: company or instrument → dative; cargo or possession-on-you → accusative. Don't assume með is always dative, and don't use eiga where you mean "have on me."