A Propósito

A Propósito
 

From what I understand, "a propósito" is equivalent to the English phrase "by the way". Is this correct?

If so, is it used in the exact same sense and is it used regular?

For instance, in English it would be very common to say something like:

Oh, by the way. . .

. . . I stopped at the store on the way home and picked up some milk.
. . . I also have the same book you do.
. . . I really think we should take that trip to Ireland.

etc.

Is this the same way that "a propósito" is used in Spanish?

Yes, it's the same. By the way, why don't you try to write those sentences in Spanish? It would be good practice.. :) :p

Can this also work for the English speaking of which ?
Person A: "I got a call from my brother today."
Person B: "Oh really? And, speaking of which, has he bought a car yet?"

Hoy me llamó mi hermano.
Ah si? Y, a propósito, ha comprado ya un coche?

Yes, this is another meaning.
In addition to these meanings, the phrase can also mean 'on purpose' or 'deliberately'.

Context is the key to proper translation.

Hmm, let's see here. . . We'll see if I can get this right. . .


. . . I stopped at the store on the way home and picked up some milk. (Ugh, can't do this one. I don't know the verbs for "stopped" or "picked up," nor do I know how to say "on the way." Help?)


. . . I also have the same book you do.
. . . También tengo el mismo libro que tienes. (?)


. . . I really think we should take that trip to Ireland. (Can't do this one either. How do you say "should"? Also, what verb would be used for "to take" in this sense?)

Try alternate phrasing for the idiomatic expressions you don't know.
For example, instead of saying that you stopped at the store (parar a|en la tienda), you could just use ir a la tienda, conjugated properly.
Instead of 'picked up', use 'bought'.
To say 'on the way home', there are a couple of different approaches. You can use a literal rendering 'en el camino a la casa'. You can say where you were coming from (venía del trabajo). You can use 'iba a casa' or 'volvía a casa' to set the stage for the other actions that happened (conjugated in the preterite tense). You can say 'antes de llegar a la casa, fui a la tienda para ...'. There are plenty more options.

hacer un viaje = take a trip
deber = should
Use 'deber hacer el viaje a Irlanda' to say 'should take the trip'. Remember to conjugate only the first verb of the pair. :)

Tengo el mismo libro que tú

'ti' would be incorrect. Tengo el mismo libro que tú (tienes).

Coming back to the first question of the thread:

by the way = a propósito =por cierto

Mind the two meanings of "a propósito" that Rusty pointed out.

Awesome, thanks for all the info, guys! Very helpful.

So Don, you're saying that "por cierto" can also be used for "by the way" or in the sense of the alternate meanings for "a propósito"?

You can use it for "by the way", not for "on purpose"

Okay, thanks. Good to know. That's a little bit easier to say than "a propósito."

Por cierto (by the way), in case you don't know it, 'Don' is not a name but something as Mr or Ms that is placed before your first name.

How about "...de camino a casa pasé por la tienda a comprar (la) leche."

Oops! I thought tú, but wrote ti. Thanks for catching that!

That seems like an incomplete sentence, though.

"I have the same book that you". . .



I remember that now.

I just glanced up at your username real quick and, as you probably know, "Don" is a name in English.

Except that sometimes "que" translates to "as".

Ah, thanks. . .

Que is pretty confusing. It seems to have a lot of meanings.

Eso no fue un accidente, él lo hizo a propósito.
That wasn't an accident, he did it on purpose.