Icelandic: berjast við vs. fight with

[gramster]

In English, the idiom "fight with" is one of those expressions that can actually be its own antonym, depending on the context. For example, "he fights with his sister" might mean either that he fights alongside his sister (for a common cause), but it might also mean that he fights against his sister (over some shared resource).

In Icelandic, however, it appears that "berjast við" only has the latter meaning of "fight against".

Can someone please confirm this?

Thanks!

 

[Segorian]

In Icelandic, however, it appears that "berjast við" only has the latter meaning of "fight against".

Yes, that is correct. The preposition við can sometimes mean ‘along with’, but not in this case. To render “fight alongside someone” you would have to say, for example, berjast með einhverjum or berjast við hlið einhvers.