ところで
by the way / incidentally
ところで is a fixed conversational connector placed at the beginning of a sentence. It signals that the speaker is leaving the current topic and moving to a new, often unrelated one, exactly like English “by the way”.
It never changes form, and what follows it is very often a question.
Changing the topic
Use ところで when the previous topic has run its course and you want to bring up something new without sounding abrupt.
ところで、明日は何する？
“By the way, what are you doing tomorrow?”
- ところで = by the way
- 明日（あした）= tomorrow
- は = topic marker
- 何する（なにする）= what will (you) do (casual)
ところで、新しい仕事はどうですか。
“By the way, how is your new job?”
- ところで = by the way
- 新しい（あたらしい）= new
- 仕事（しごと）= job, work
- は = topic marker
- どうですか = how is it?
How to form it
ところで + new sentence. It's a fixed expression at the very start of the sentence and it never conjugates.
- ところで、今何時？（ところで、いまなんじ）= By the way, what time is it?
- ところで、お昼はもう食べた？（ところで、おひるはもうたべた）= By the way, have you had lunch yet?
Key idea
ところで is a polite signal that says “new topic coming”. It does not contrast with or conclude anything that came before.
Built on the same stem
Updated .