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Many Japanese-English dictionaries define "ところで" as something similar to "by
the way" or "incidentally", but is it also used with statement-type sentences
as well? If not, what would be the most appropriate phrase to use?

I am looking to say something along the lines of:

> By the way, I ran into Alan at Starbucks the other day.

Here are some of the examples I have seen listed, but I am having trouble
finding examples that are not questions.

  1. > ところで例の件はどうなりましたか。

  2. > ところで、今日はおひまですか

  3. > ところでよ、そのおめーのおとうさんはどこにいんのさ？
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2017-10-15T21:34:58.727
53826
2017-10-15T22:57:02.693
9838
question
word-choice words
Can ところで be used with statements as well?
「ところで」 is used to make statements all the time. There is nothing strange or
unnatural about it.

To borrow your own example, you could easily say:

> 「ところで、この前{まえ}スターバックスでばったりアランに会{あ}ったよ。」

In more casual conversations, you might hear us use 「それはそうと」、「あっ、そうそう」, etc.
instead of 「ところで」, but that is **_not_** to say that 「ところで」 sounds very
formal.

ところで、なかなかいい質問{しつもん}をしますね。
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-15T22:57:02.693
53830
2017-10-15T22:57:02.693
53826
answer