English Translation
I would prefer to speak to you in private.
I thought “Ich möchte mit Ihnen privat sprechen.” would be the proper sentence?
Hi @FallingFire7275, welcome to the forums!
I thought “Ich möchte mit Ihnen privat sprechen.” would be the proper sentence?
I have a feeling that the variant without “mit” is the one used more often by native speakers here in Austria. I’m not a native speaker myself though, but I live in Vienna. So if it’s true that this is the more commonly used variant, the original translation can be considered correct. Even if it is not the most direct one.
In your translation though, don’t forget about also translating “prefer”. That’s missing at the moment.
“jemanden sprechen” is less about the actual talking, and more about the appointment. It’s like applying for an audience, like if you go and “see a doctor”. You might say at the counter “Ich möchte den Herrn Doktor sprechen”. Related to this is “jemand ist zu sprechen”, which means “is available / has time to receive someone”. For example, you might ask “Ist die Frau Doktor zu sprechen?”
“mit jemandem sprechen” is used when there’s actual stuff to talk about.
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Thank you for your reply. I omitted “lieber” by mistake.
I thought “sprechen” was a Dativ-taking verb, appearently it isn’t. Thank you for your help, HerrSubset and pitti42.