By the way is used to bring up a new topic or add a side remark, like “incidentally”: By the way, what time is it? The expression is conversational. In messages it is often shortened to BTW, and it isn't used in essays.
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By the way, + new topic/question; …, by the way, …; BTW (in messages)
- Thanks for dinner last night. By the way, you left your scarf at our place.
- The hotel has a small pool. Breakfast, by the way, is included in the price.
- Let's meet at the café at six. BTW, Anna is coming too.
What changed
First versionYou've arrived just by the way. We need help with these boxes.
RevisionYou've arrived just at the right time. We need help with these boxes.
In some languages the phrase for by the way can also mean “at just the right moment”, as in “you've come at a good time”. By the way doesn't work like that in English: it only switches the conversation to another topic. To say that something happened at a convenient moment, use at the right time, so by the way was replaced with at the right time.
Don't confuse by the way with on the way, “while going somewhere”: I'll buy some bread on the way home. Although both contain the word way, by the way never means “on the way”.
Your turn
Thanks for sending the photos from the trip! ___, did you ever find your lost sunglasses?
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By the way — The person thanks a friend for the photos and then suddenly asks about something else: the lost sunglasses. That kind of change of topic is introduced by By the way. Moreover adds a point to an argument and would sound like a line from a report in a friendly message.
Write a short message to a colleague or friend. First answer their question, then use by the way to move to another topic and ask about something.
Yes, I've sent the invoice to the client. By the way, are you coming to Maria's birthday party on Friday?
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