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French Expression
| Meaning | regarding, on the subject of | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[ah proh poh deu] |
| IPA | [a pʁo po də] | |
Usage notes: The French noun un propos has a few meanings:
- words, remarks
- subject
- intention, aim (formal)
À propos de
The prepositional phrase à propos de is related to #2 – it means "regarding, on the subject of" when bringing up something that was mentioned earlier, or distinguishing between multiple topics currently under discussion.
Par exemple…
| À propos de cette photo … | Regarding this photo … | |
| Je vous écris à propos du nouveau projet. | I’m writing to you on the subject of the new project. |
Synonyms
- à l’égard de
- concernant
- en ce qui concerne
- quant à
- se rapportant à
- relatif à
- relativement à
À propos de
À propos has several uses and meanings:
1) adverbial phrase
a) timely, opportune
| Elles sont arrivées à propos. | They arrived at just the right time. | |
| Voilà qui tombe à propos ! | It couldn’t have come at a better time! | |
| Antonym: mal à propos |
b) pertinent, apt, correct
| Elle a toujours une remarque à propos. | She always has a pertinent remark. | |
| Je le trouve à propos de vous en parler. | I though it correct to talk to you about it. |
2) interjection meaning "by the way, incidentally"
| À propos, que pensez-vous de … ? | By the way, what do you think about … ? | |
| À propos, j’ai décidé de …. | Incidentally, I’ve decided to …. |
En anglais
English has a modified version, “apropos,” that can be used for most of the above meanings.
| I’m writing to you apropos (of) your article. | Je vous écris à propos de votre article. | |
| They arrived apropos. | Elles sont arrivées à propos. | |
| Apropos, what do you think about … ? | À propos, que pensez-vous de … ? |
English’s "apropos" also has one additional meaning: an adjective meaning "appropriate, on point":
| I think that’s an apropos solution. | Je pense que c’est une solution opportune. | |
| Yes, we have enough but that’s not apropos. | Oui, on en a assez mais là n’est pas la question. |
Related lessons
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