við vs. með

[Ioannes]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me the difference between 'við' and 'með' as the preposition "with" in icelandic.

So far I have been comparing 'við' with the norwegian 'ved'(with, at) and 'með' with "med" (with), but in many occasions it works badly, e.g. "ég talað við hana", and not "ég talað með henni"!

I asked two natives about it, but they had problems explaining it, although they perfectly knew the difference; and I can understand that -- there are many rare differences I can't explain in my own native language.

I will be your humble servant if you can tell me!

[einhar]

Við töluðum við hana - We talked with her

Við - personal pronoun
töluðum - verb
við - preposition
hana - personal pronoun

The preposition, with, is usually translated as með.

The exception I recall are:
Talk with somebody - Tala við einhvern.
Argue with a friend - Deila við vin.
What's wrong with that? - Hvað er að því?
What's the matter with you? - Hvað er að þér?
The grass is wet with rain - Grasið er blautt af regni

This is the best i can do for you.