Level 4 · Upper Intermediate
Changing topic with 对了
对了，+ Sentence · Traditional: 對了，+ Sentence
对了 (duìle) at the start of a sentence means "oh right — by the way": something just popped into your head and you're switching topics. 对了，你明天有时间吗？ "Oh right, are you free tomorrow?"
It only works as an opener — dropping it at the end of a sentence doesn't mean anything. (Standing alone as an answer, 对了 is just "correct!", a different job.)
Examples
对了，你明天有时间吗？
對了，你明天有時間嗎？
duì le nǐ míng tiān yǒu shí jiān ma
Oh right — are you free tomorrow?
对了，别忘了给妈妈打电话。
對了，別忘了給媽媽打電話。
duì le bié wàng le gěi mā ma dǎ diàn huà
By the way, don't forget to call mom.
对了，我想问你一个问题。
對了，我想問你一個問題。
duì le wǒ xiǎng wèn nǐ yī ge wèn tí
Oh right, I wanted to ask you something.
对了，上个星期的照片你看了吗？
對了，上個星期的照片你看了嗎？
duì le shàng gè xīng qī de zhào piàn nǐ kàn le ma
By the way, did you see last week's photos?
Common mistakes
✗ 你明天有时间吗，对了？
✓ 对了，你明天有时间吗？
对了 opens the sentence — it signals you just remembered something.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like The Phone Call (Part 1) inside the Literate Chinese app.
