Collocation
Could we talk about this privately?
A polite request to discuss a matter confidentially, without other people present or listening.
Definition
'Could we talk about this privately?' is a common English collocation. A polite request to discuss a matter confidentially, without other people present or listening.
Could + subject + talk + about + object + privately
“Could we talk about this privately?”
Examples
- After the team meeting, the manager asked, "Could we talk about this privately for a moment?"
- He pulled me aside in the hallway, saying, "I need to talk about this privately with you."
- She suggested it might be better if they could talk about the sensitive issue privately.
Show more examples
- Before announcing their decision, the partners agreed to talk about the details privately one last time.
- I'd really like to talk about this matter privately, perhaps over coffee tomorrow.
- They've been trying to talk about the project's risks privately for days but haven't found an uninterrupted moment.
- "We need to talk about this privately," he insisted, guiding her away from the group.
- If we could just talk about this privately, I'm sure we could resolve the misunderstanding quickly.
- She was hoping to talk about her concerns privately with her supervisor before the official review.
- He knew they had to talk about this privately before rumors started spreading.
Learn this in a path
More at B1 level
- make sense To be logical, reasonable, or understandable; to have a clear meaning.
- Could you take a look? To briefly examine or inspect something.
- Pleasure to meet you. A polite and common expression used when being introduced to someone for the first time, indicating…
- get started To begin doing something; to make a start on an activity or task.
- Could you get back to me by Friday? Can you reply or respond to me by Friday?