Preposition 'Com': With | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

Com means with, and most of the time it behaves exactly the way you'd expect from English: café com leite (coffee with milk), vou com você (I'm going with you). It's one of the first prepositions a learner can use confidently. But com hides two features that English has no equivalent for, and getting them right is what separates a beginner from someone who sounds natural: the fused pronoun forms (comigo, contigo, conosco) and the com + noun adverb pattern (com calma = calmly). This page walks through the everyday uses first, then the two tricky bits.

Accompaniment — being or going "with"

The core meaning: one thing in the company of another. People, things, ingredients — all join with com.

Você vem com a gente ou prefere ir depois?

Are you coming with us, or do you prefer to go later?

Quero um pão com manteiga e um café, por favor.

I'd like a roll with butter and a coffee, please.

Ela mora com os pais ainda.

She still lives with her parents.

Instrument — doing something "with" a tool

Com also marks the instrument used to perform an action — the knife you cut with, the pen you write with. English uses with here too, so this maps cleanly.

Cortei o dedo com a faca enquanto cozinhava.

I cut my finger with the knife while cooking.

Ele abriu a porta com a chave reserva.

He opened the door with the spare key.

Manner — "with care," "with patience"

Here is where com quietly becomes one of the most useful tools in the language. Portuguese uses com + an abstract noun to express how something is done. This is the everyday way Brazilians form adverbs of manner — often instead of the longer -mente adverb.

Dirija com cuidado, a pista está molhada.

Drive carefully — the road is wet.

Fala com calma, não entendi nada.

Speak slowly/calmly — I didn't understand a thing.

Ela explicou tudo com paciência.

She explained everything patiently.

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com + noun is a productive adverb factory. com calma = calmly, com cuidado = carefully, com pressa = hurriedly, com carinho = lovingly. When you don't know (or don't want) the long -mente adverb, reach for com + the matching noun. It almost always sounds more natural in speech.

The fused pronoun forms — comigo, contigo, conosco

This is the one piece you must memorize. When com combines with certain personal pronouns, it doesn't just sit next to them — it fuses into a single irregular word. You cannot say "com mim." It's wrong the way "with I" is wrong in English.

com + pronoun	fused form	meaning
com + mim	comigo	with me
com + ti	contigo (regional)	with you (informal)
com + nós	conosco	with us
com + vós	convosco (archaic)	with you all

Vem comigo, eu te mostro o caminho.

Come with me, I'll show you the way.

Ela quer falar conosco amanhã de manhã.

She wants to talk with us tomorrow morning.

The crucial Brazilian detail: com você does not fuse. Because você (not tu) is the default "you" across most of Brazil, the everyday phrase is simply com você — two words, no fusion.

Posso ir com você até a estação?

Can I go with you as far as the station?

comigo — universal, used everywhere, always fused.
contigo — heard in regions that use tu (the South, parts of the Northeast); elsewhere people say com você.
conosco — standard for "with us." In very casual speech you'll also hear com a gente, since a gente is the colloquial "we."
convosco — archaic/literary only; you'll meet it in old texts or hymns, never in modern conversation.

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If you've studied Spanish, comigo / contigo will feel familiar — they're the twins of conmigo / contigo. But Portuguese adds conosco (Spanish has no "connosco"), and remember that Brazilian default "you" gives you the two-word com você, not a fused form.

For the full picture of which pronouns follow prepositions (the mim/ti/ele set), see the pronoun-after-prepositions page.

Figurative and idiomatic uses

Com stretches into many fixed expressions about states, conditions, and attitudes. A handful worth knowing early:

Estou com fome, vamos comer alguma coisa?

I'm hungry — shall we eat something?

Tá com pressa? A gente conversa depois então.

You're in a hurry? We'll talk later then.

Notice that Portuguese says estar com fome (literally "to be with hunger") where English says "to be hungry." This estar com + noun pattern covers many physical states: com sede (thirsty), com sono (sleepy), com medo (afraid), com frio (cold).

Common Mistakes

❌ Você quer vir com mim?

Incorrect — 'com + mim' must fuse into comigo.

✅ Você quer vir comigo?

Do you want to come with me?

❌ Ela vai falar com nós amanhã.

Incorrect — 'com + nós' fuses into conosco.

✅ Ela vai falar conosco amanhã.

She's going to talk with us tomorrow.

❌ Vou comigo você ao mercado.

Incorrect — 'comigo' already means 'with me'; 'with you' is com você.

✅ Vou com você ao mercado.

I'm going with you to the market.

❌ Eu estou faminto de comida agora.

Incorrect/unnatural — Brazilians say 'estar com fome'.

✅ Eu estou com fome agora.

I'm hungry right now.

❌ Dirija cuidadosamente sempre que possível por favor.

Grammatically fine but stiff — speech prefers 'com cuidado'.

✅ Dirija com cuidado.

Drive carefully.

Key Takeaways

com = with, for accompaniment, instrument, and manner.
The fused forms comigo / contigo / conosco are a closed set you must memorize — never "com mim" or "com nós."
Brazilian default "you" gives com você (two words), not a fused form.
com + abstract noun (com calma, com cuidado) is the natural everyday way to make adverbs of manner.
estar com + noun expresses physical states: com fome, com sede, com sono, com medo.

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