そういえば - Grammar Discussion

speaking of which
by the way
come to think of it

Structure

  • そういえば + Phrase

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そういえば gets a “Hypothetical” hint during reviews, and in the article it is described as “a hypothetical structure”, but is it really hypothetical?

Now, I understand that it literally contains a ば in it. But none of the example sentences are what we would call hypothetical in English. As in they don’t describe situations that might or might not happen or have happened. This would probably be called an introductory word?

So I guess my questions are: do Japanese think of そういえば as a hypothetical construction or something else, and is it useful to hint “hypothetical” for these sentences.