med: With, By | Norwegian Grammar

med means "with" in its broad sense and "by" in the "by means of" sense. It marks accompaniment (jeg kom med en venn), instrument (skrive med penn), and crucially means of transport (reise med tog) — where English "by car / by train" maps onto Norwegian med, not any word for "by." It also powers two enormously frequent idioms: ha med seg ("bring along") and være med ("come along / be in on it"). One genuine pitfall: the agent of a passive ("written by Ibsen") is av, not med — covered below. A pronunciation note up front: med has a silent d — it sounds like "meh" (rhyming with English "meh"), not "med."

Accompaniment: "with"

The core sense is being or doing something together with someone:

Jeg var på kino med vennene mine i går.

I was at the cinema with my friends yesterday.

Vil du bli med på en kaffe?

Do you want to come along for a coffee?

Hun bor sammen med kjæresten sin.

She lives together with her partner.

Note sammen med ("together with") — the very common reinforced form when you want to stress togetherness.

Instrument and means: "with / by means of"

med marks the tool or material you use to do something — English "with":

Han skriver alltid med blyant, aldri med penn.

He always writes with a pencil, never with a pen.

Jeg åpnet flaska med en kniv.

I opened the bottle with a knife.

Vil du ha kaffe med melk?

Would you like coffee with milk?

This extends to "by means of" — accomplishing something through a means:

Du kan betale med kort eller kontant.

You can pay by card or in cash.

Means of transport: med, not "by"

This is the use English speakers must consciously relearn. To say how you travel — by car, train, plane, bus, bike, boat — Norwegian uses med + the vehicle, with the vehicle usually in the bare form (no article):

Vi reiser til Bergen med tog.

We're travelling to Bergen by train.

Jeg drar på jobb med sykkel når været er fint.

I go to work by bike when the weather's nice.

De kom hit med fly fra London.

They came here by plane from London.

Skal vi ta bussen eller gå?

Shall we take the bus or walk?

There is no Norwegian word for "by" in this sense — do not hunt for one. "By car" is med bil, "by train" med tog, "by plane" med fly. (Compare på toget = physically aboard the train, a location; med toget = travelling by train, a means. See i vs på: Place and Transport Expressions.)

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For how you get somewhere, reach for med: med bil, med tog, med fly, med båt. English "by car" never becomes a Norwegian "by" — it is always med, and the vehicle is usually bare (med bil, not med en bil, unless you mean one specific car).

ha med seg — "bring along"

The phrase ha med seg (literally "have with oneself") is the everyday way to say "bring (something) along." The reflexive matches the subject (meg / deg / seg / oss …), and the med can also split off as a particle in ta med ("bring/take along"):

Husk å ha med deg paraply — det skal regne.

Remember to bring an umbrella — it's going to rain.

Jeg har med meg lunsj i dag.

I've brought lunch with me today.

Kan du ta med deg melk hjem fra butikken?

Can you bring some milk home from the shop?

være med / bli med — "come along, join, be in on it"

være med and its motion partner bli med are among the highest-frequency idioms in spoken Norwegian, and they have no clean single English equivalent. They cover "come along," "join in," "take part," and "be in on it":

Vil du være med på fotball i kveld?

Do you want to join in / come to football tonight?

Bli med, da! Det blir gøy.

Come along, then! It'll be fun.

Han var med på å planlegge hele festen.

He was in on planning the whole party. (took part)

Er du med?

Are you in? / Are you following? (depending on context)

The last one, er du med?, is doubly useful: literally "are you with (us)?" it means both "are you joining?" and, in explanations, "are you following / do you get it?" These belong to the broader family of particle verbs (see Particle Verbs).

The agent trap: passive "by" is av, not med

Here is the genuine pitfall. In a passive sentence, the agent — the one by whom the action is done — is introduced by av, never med. English "with" and "by" both feel close to med, so learners overextend it:

Boka ble skrevet av en ung forfatter.

The book was written by a young author. (agent — av)

Huset ble bygget av bestefar.

The house was built by Grandad. (agent — av)

Contrast that with the instrument, which is med:

Brevet ble skrevet med rød penn.

The letter was written with a red pen. (instrument — med)

So the same verb can take both: skrevet av forfatteren (by the author — who) vs skrevet med penn (with a pen — what tool). Keep av = agent / by whom, med = instrument / with what.

Common Mistakes

English speakers err by translating "by car" with a "by" word, by using med for the passive agent, and occasionally by forgetting the reflexive in ha med seg.

❌ Jeg reiser til Oslo ved bil.

Incorrect — means of transport takes med, not ved.

✅ Jeg reiser til Oslo med bil.

I'm travelling to Oslo by car.

❌ Boka ble skrevet med Ibsen.

Incorrect — the passive agent is av; 'med Ibsen' means alongside Ibsen.

✅ Boka ble skrevet av Ibsen.

The book was written by Ibsen.

❌ Husk å ha med paraply.

Incomplete in careful speech — the reflexive 'deg' is expected: ha med deg.

✅ Husk å ha med deg paraply.

Remember to bring an umbrella.

❌ Vil du være hos på fotball?

Wrong — 'join in' is være med, not være hos.

✅ Vil du være med på fotball?

Do you want to join in for football?

❌ Jeg satt med toget og leste.

Wrong sense — 'med toget' = by train (means); to say 'on board', use på toget.

✅ Jeg satt på toget og leste.

I sat on the train and read. (location aboard)

Key takeaways

med = "with" (accompaniment: med vennene mine; instrument: med penn) and "by means of."
Means of transport takes med — med bil, med tog, med fly — there is no Norwegian "by" to translate.
ha med seg = "bring along" (with the matching reflexive); være med / bli med = "come along / join / be in on it," a hugely frequent idiom with no neat English equivalent.
The passive agent ("written by Ibsen") is av, not med; med is reserved for the instrument.
Pronunciation: the d in med is silent ("meh").

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