with
prep.used to show that people or things are together or doing something at the same time. You also use it to talk about the tool or method you use to finish a task.
prep.indicating accompaniment, association, or the instrument used to perform an action. Functions as a head of a prepositional phrase to link a noun or pronoun to the rest of the sentence.
“I am going to the park with my friends.”
“She managed to open the locked wooden box with a small silver key she found in the drawer.”
“The architect designed the building with both aesthetic beauty and structural integrity in mind, ensuring it would withstand the harsh coastal winds while remaining a local landmark.”
Typically followed by a noun phrase or pronoun in the objective case. When used to indicate an instrument, it is often contrasted with 'by', which indicates the agent or the method.
While 'with' is correct for people, learners often confuse prepositions after adjectives; 'angry with' is the standard collocation for people, while 'angry at' or 'about' is used for situations.
Usage associate with · coincide with · compare with
From Middle English with, from Old English wiþ (“against, opposite, toward, with”), from Proto-West Germanic wiþi, a shortened form of Proto-Germanic wiþrą (“against”). In Middle English, the word shifted to denote association rather than opposition, displacing Middle English mid (“with”), from Old English mid (“with”), from Proto-Germanic *midi; an earlier model of this meaning shift exists in cognate Old Norse við; elsewhere, the converse meaning shift is exemplified by Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩺𐩬 (byn, “between, amid”) spawning Old South Arabian 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “against”) and even likewise frequent reverse meaning 𐩨𐩬 (bn, “from”). The adverb sense is probably a semantic loan from various other Germanic languages, such as German mit, Norwegian med, and Swedish med.
From Middle English withe, wiþþe, from Old English wiþþe. More at withe.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
For Spanish speakers The final /θ/ of 'with' is realized as /s/ in seseo dialects, or as /f/, so the word surfaces as /wɪs/ or /wɪf/.
Spanish 'casarse con' and 'soñar con' govern 'con', so 'with' is dropped after 'marry' and 'dream', or replaced with 'of' by analogy with the Spanish preposition.
For Mandarin speakers Mandarin lacks the dental fricative /ð/, leading speakers to substitute the alveolar plosive /d/ or the dentalized /z/, resulting in a pronunciation like /wɪd/ or /wɪz/.
Mandarin uses the coverb '跟 (gēn)' or '和 (hé)' before the verb to express accompaniment (e.g., 'I with him go'), which leads learners to place 'with' phrases before the main verb in English instead of after it.
The Mandarin verb '用 (yòng)' covers both 'use' and 'with' for instruments; learners frequently substitute the verb 'use' in contexts where 'with' is required, producing 'I cut the apple use a knife'.
For Japanese speakers The Japanese phonology lacks the dental fricative /ð/. Speakers replace /ð/ with the alveolar plosive /d/ or the voiced alveolar sibilant /z/, resulting in /wizɯ/ or /widɯ/.
Japanese uses the postpositional particle 'と (to)' to mark accompaniment, but instrumental 'with' is marked by 'で (de)'. Learners often over-extend 'with' to contexts where 'by' or 'using' is required due to the broad range of 'で (de)'.
Japanese marks the accompanying partner in marriage or conflict with 'と (to)', leading to errors like 'marry with someone' instead of the transitive 'marry someone' (結婚する kekkon suru).
For French speakers The /ð/ sound does not exist in French; speakers often substitute it with /z/ or /v/, pronouncing 'with' as /wɪz/ or /wɪv/.
French uses 'chez' for professional or personal locations, leading learners to say 'with the doctor' instead of 'at the doctor's'.
The French expression 'se marier avec' often causes learners to say 'married with' instead of the correct English 'married to'.