How To Say By the Way in Spanish

How To Say By the Way in Spanish Spanish has two common ways of introducing an afterthought, unrelated comment or offhand remark, ways that are typically translated as by the way or incidentally in English. The expressions used are a propà ³sito and por cierto, with the former being somewhat more formal. Here are some examples of their usage: Por cierto,  ¿no ests descargando mà ºsica ilegalmente? (By the way, are you downloading music illegally?) Por cierto, la valla fronteriza fue construida por Estados Unidos. (By the way, the border fence was built by the United States.) Por cierto, vamos a preparar algo para septiembre. (By the way, well be getting something ready for September.) Por cierto, la lente del telà ©fono est compuesta por cinco elementos. (Incidentally, the lens in the phone is made up of five elements.) A propà ³sito, quiero hacer una fiesta este fin de semana. By the way, I want to put together a party this weekend. A propà ³sito, la ciudad est a menos de 40 kilà ³metros de la frontera. (By the way, the city is less than 40 kilometers from the border.) A propà ³sito, tenemos ms de 40.000 alumnos. (Incidentally, we have more than 40,000 students.) Note that por cierto does not mean certainly, as you might expect. As a noun in other usages, cierto often expresses certainty. In some contexts, a propà ³sito can also mean on purpose or deliberately. (As a noun, propà ³sito typically means intention or purpose.) When used in that way, a propà ³sito typically comes after the verb instead of at the beginning of a sentence. Example: Determinaron que no fue a propà ³sito. (They determined it was not done deliberately.) A propà ³sito de also can be a way of saying with respect to, concerning or something similar. Example: Recordà © una historia que Mam me contaba a propà ³sito de mi padre. (I remembered a story Mom would tell me about my father.) Downgrading Closely related to the introduction of afterthoughts is that of minimizing or downplaying the importance of what follows. In English, this might be done using anyway, such as in Anyway, we found a restaurant that wasnt closed. Such minimizations are more common in speech than they are in writing. In Spanish, common phrases of downplaying include de todas formas, de todas maneras and de todos modos. They can be translated in a variety of ways, as these examples show: De todas formas, no me molesta que tienes muchos amigos. (In any case, it doesnt bother me that you have a lot of friends.) De todas maneras los escdalos financieros generan un impacto reputacional. Anyway, the financial scandals are having an impact on reputation. De todos modos, le gustarà ­a volver a tener su propia casa. (In any event, she would like to return to her own home.) All three of these Spanish phrases can be used interchangeably with no significant changes of meaning, much like the English phrases used above. Especially in speech, it is also common to use words such as nada and/or bueno something like  filler words for a similar effect: Bueno nada, queria compartir con ustedes mi tatuaje. (Anyway, I want to share my tattoo with you.) Bueno, quizs podamos  hacer una excepcià ³n. (OK then, maybe we can make an exception.)