Question 1

The lesson is about 'quant à' and 'en ce qui concerne'. Could I use either of those here instead of 'à propos de'?

Accepted Answer

Yes, both would work perfectly. You could say Quant à la réunion (As for the meeting) or En ce qui concerne la réunion (Regarding the meeting). À propos de is just another common way to introduce a topic, translating nicely to "About" or "Speaking of".

Question 2

Is it really necessary to say elle? Couldn't I just say À propos de la réunion, c'est annulé?

Accepted Answer

You can't use ce here because ce (or c') refers to an unspecified "it" or a general situation. Since you just specifically mentioned la réunion (a feminine noun), you must use the specific pronoun elle.

Question 3

Why does annulée have an extra e at the end?

Accepted Answer

It's agreeing with the subject of the clause, elle (which stands for the feminine noun la réunion). When verbs are used with être in the passive voice like this, the past participle acts like an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the subject.

Question 4

I've seen à propos used on its own. What is the difference between à propos and à propos de?

Accepted Answer

When used on its own, à propos means "by the way" or "speaking of which" (for example, À propos, tu as vu Paul ?). When you add de, it must be followed by a noun or pronoun to specify what you are talking about, meaning "about" or "concerning".

À propos de la réunion, elle est annulée.

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