Con: Accompaniment and Instrument | Spanish (Latin America) Grammar

The preposition con is the Spanish equivalent of English "with." It's short, common, and relatively painless to use — most of its meanings overlap neatly with English. The one quirk to watch for is that con fuses with a few pronouns to form conmigo, contigo, and consigo.

The three main uses

Con covers three closely-related ideas:

Accompaniment — who or what is with you
Instrument — what tool or means is being used
Manner — how something is done

Let's look at each in turn.

1. Accompaniment — "with my brother"

This is the most literal sense of "with": being in someone or something's company.

Voy al cine con mi hermano.

I'm going to the movies with my brother.

Vive con sus padres en Monterrey.

He lives with his parents in Monterrey.

You can also use it for things, not just people:

Tomo el café con leche y azúcar.

I take my coffee with milk and sugar.

2. Instrument — "with a pencil"

Con also tells you what tool was used to accomplish something. In English we use "with" the same way: "I wrote it with a pencil."

Escribe con un lápiz, no con bolígrafo.

Write with a pencil, not with a pen.

Cortó el pan con un cuchillo muy afilado.

He cut the bread with a very sharp knife.

3. Manner — "with care"

This is where con translates naturally into English adverbs. Spanish often says con + noun where English would say -ly:

Spanish	English
con cuidado	carefully
con paciencia	patiently
con cariño	affectionately, fondly
con dificultad	with difficulty
con facilidad	easily
con miedo	fearfully

Maneja con cuidado, la carretera está mojada.

Drive carefully, the road is wet.

Me respondió con mucha paciencia.

She answered me very patiently.

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Spanish often prefers con + noun over -mente adverbs. Instead of cuidadosamente, most speakers will say con cuidado. It sounds lighter and more natural.

Special forms: conmigo, contigo, consigo

When con combines with the pronouns mí, ti, or sí, the two words merge into a single word:

Components	Contraction	Meaning
con + mí	conmigo	with me
con + ti	contigo	with you
con + sí	consigo	with him/herself, themselves

You cannot say *con mí or *con ti — the merged forms are required.

¿Quieres salir conmigo mañana?

Do you want to go out with me tomorrow?

Siempre lleva su cámara consigo.

She always carries her camera with her.

Every other pronoun stays separate from con: you say con él, con ella, con nosotros, con ustedes, con ellos. See the dedicated page on conmigo, contigo, consigo for a full breakdown.

Other common uses

"Having" something

Con can indicate possession or feature, like "with wheels" or "with a view":

Quiero una habitación con vista al mar.

I want a room with a sea view.

Against

In some fixed expressions, con means "against" or "towards" (usually with emotional verbs):

Estoy muy enojado con mi jefe.

I'm really angry with my boss.

Content / ingredient

Pedimos una pizza con champiñones.

We ordered a pizza with mushrooms.

A note on verbs that take con

Several verbs require con before their object: contar con (to count on), soñar con (to dream about), casarse con (to marry), encontrarse con (to run into). These work like the en-verbs we looked at on the previous page:

Siempre puedes contar conmigo.

You can always count on me.

Anoche soñé con mi abuela.

Last night I dreamed about my grandma.

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When you learn a new verb, always note what preposition (if any) it takes. "Casarse con" and "soñar con" don't sound like "with" in English, so they need to be memorized as fixed pairs.

For the complete breakdown, see verbs with prepositions.