Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 2: 4/22

ところで

By the way, Incidentally

Structure

ところで + (New Topic) Phrase

Details

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    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

Rare Kanji

所

About ところで

ところで is a conjunction particle that is made up of the noun, ところ 'place', and the case marking particle で. It is used in a similar way to 'by the way', or 'incidentally' in English, but will only be used for introducing new topics, not continuing within the same topic.
ところで will primarily appear at the beginning of a sentence, before making a statement or asking a question about something unrelated.
  • ところで、昨日(きのう)の話(はなし)はどうなった？
    By the way, what happened to the plan you told me about yesterday?
  • ところで、お宅(たく)の旦那(だんな)さんは元気(げんき)にしていますか。
    By the way, is your husband doing well?
The literal translation of ところで is closer to 'and with that', and implies that something (within the previous topic) suddenly reminded the speaker of another thing (that happens to be a new topic).
Caution
When ところで appears after the past tense of a verb as たところで, it carries a different meaning, and will express that something isn't the case, despite (A). This is an advanced grammar point that will be covered at another stage.

Examples

  • ところで、どこに行(い)くつもりですか。

    By the way, where do you plan on going?

  • ところで、明日(あした)のパーティーに何(なに)を持(も)って来(き)ますか？

    By the way, what are you going to bring to the party tomorrow?

  • ところで、パソコンの使(つか)い方(かた)をご存知(ぞんじ)ですか。

    By the way, do you know how to use a computer?

  • ところで、内本(うちもと)さんはどこ出身(しゅっしん)？

    By the way, where is Uchimoto-san from?

  • ところで、もう雨(あめ)はやみましたか？

    By the way, has it stopped raining yet?

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