Collocation
I do not want to keep you.
This phrase is used to politely indicate that you understand the other person may be busy or have other commitments, and you are offering them an opportunity to leave or end the conversation without feeling rude. It means 'I don't want to delay you' or 'I don't want to take up any more of your time.'
Definition
'I do not want to keep you.' is a common English collocation. This phrase is used to politely indicate that you understand the other person may be busy or have other commitments, and you are offering them an opportunity to leave or end the conversation without feeling rude. It means 'I don't want to delay you' or 'I don't want to take up any more of your time.'
keep + someone
“It's getting late, I really don't want to keep you.”
Examples
- It was lovely seeing you, but I don't want to keep you any longer.
- Thanks for the chat! We don't want to keep you from your other appointments.
- I know you're very busy, so I won't keep you for long.
Show more examples
- Please, don't feel like you have to stay; I didn't mean to keep you.
- He apologized, saying he hadn't intended to keep them for so long.
- She felt bad, thinking she might have been keeping them from their dinner plans.
- We should probably let them go; we've been keeping them for ages.
- Is everything okay? We just didn't want to keep you waiting.
- As the meeting ran over, the host worried he was keeping everyone past their lunch break.
- Although he enjoyed their company, he knew better than to keep his guests indefinitely.
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