by the by
Used to introduce a new topicUsed to introduce a new topic; incidentally, by the way.
» Did he come by bus or by train?
Ist er mit dem Bus oder mit dem Zug gekommen? — lilygilder
Он приехал автобусом или поездом? — leyla
Он приехал на автобусе или на поезде? — Typok
Він приїхав автобусом чи поїздом? — leyla
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 sensesUsed to introduce a new topic; incidentally, by the way.
Examples
257 sentencesDid he come by bus or by train?
Він приїхав автобусом чи поїздом? — leyla
ruОн приехал автобусом или поездом? — leyla
deIst er mit dem Bus oder mit dem Zug gekommen? — lilygilder
I know him by sight, but not by name.
Я упізнаю його візуально, але я не знаю, як його звати. — deniko
ruЯ знаю его в лицо, но не по имени. — odexed
Was it by accident or by design?
deWar das zufällig oder absichtlich? — Sudajaengi
Let's go by train instead of by bus.
ruДавай поедем на поезде, а не автобусом. — odexed
deLass uns mit der Bahn statt mit dem Bus fahren! — Pfirsichbaeumchen
He came by car instead of by train.
ruОн приехал на машине, а не на поезде. — marafon
Origin
The second "by" is a noun meaning "a secondary issue". Phrase used since the 17th century.The second "by" is a noun meaning "a secondary issue". Phrase used since the 17th century.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.