Polite form of ～っけ


In my everyday conversations when trying to confirm an understanding or recall
a piece of information I am sure I had heard before, I often use
（そう）だっけ、だったっけ、and でしたっけ when speaking to equals or 目下の人。 But when talking to
目上の人 I'm never quite sure what the equivalent expression would be. I know that
でしたっけ _can_ be used with 目上の人 depending on your relationship and the
situation, but I am trying to find out if there is a polite(r) equivalent※.

So far I've been given ～かね as a candidate from a native speaker. But since it
was the only candidate and **it doesn't carry the feeling of "trying to
remember"** I am inclined to think that there is no polite equivalent.

On top of that, depending on the situation and listener, it could be taken
like you are doubting the other person, being condescending, or lack
class（品）。[Here](http://komachi.yomiuri.co.jp/t/2010/0105/285804.htm) is the
site I got that from.

So, to sum up my questions: Is there a polite equivalent※ to っけ and if so,
what is it? If not, what do people say when trying to recall a piece of
information that they are sure they once had when in a situation where they
should use keigo?

※By equivalent I mean carries the same nuance and feeling, not just in meaning
as in "can be used to form a question."

Let me give some examples so I can explain the way the words "feel" as I
understand them. The different meanings may or may not require different
intonations. Also, I am not going to exhaust all options.

> これはあなたの車だっけ？

1) Trying to remember if this is his car or not.  
2) Expressing disbelief that this is his car. Both very casual.

> これはあなたの車でしたっけ？

1) Same as above, but more polite. However, I highly doubt a regular worker
(please assume properly educated, polite person) would say this to their 部長.
This is the reason I posted this question.

> これはあなたの車ですよね？

1) Expressing conviction that I know this is your car, but I want confirmation  
2) Could also be used accusatorially  
(I think there would be a split opinion about whether this could be used with
a 部長)

> これはあなたの車ですかね？

1) Used to ask a plain old question  
2) Could sound like I'm being condescending  
3) Could sound like I doubt the validity of their claim  
4) Could sound accusatory

> これはあなたの車でしょうか？

1) Used to ask a plain old question  
2) Could be used to get confirmation  
3) Could be used to express doubt

The point is that none of these are equivalents in terms of nuance and
feeling, or even usage other than the fact that they modify the conveyed
feeling and intent of questions.




The original question basically comes down to finding an "honorific" way (yes,
that dreaded 敬語 thing) of saying だっけ？ or でしたっけ？

I would say a good and polite alternative would be to replace those
expressions with でしょうか？ To say

> テストは次の月曜日{げつようび}だっけ？

you say

> テストは次の月曜日でしょうか？

Of course depending on what comes before だっけ and also to whom you are talking,
the politer expressions would take slightly different forms. My example above
is not the politest but is generally good enough to sound not rude.

Edit after the OP added a few more examples:

I see what you mean. Your understanding of different nuances for all those
example cases is correct (mostly in line with mine, that is... and as you
abundantly know those nuances can change slightly in different contexts and
for different people). As I see, you are trying to find an equivalent of っけ
when used to remember something and doing so by directing a question to
someone else.

While I still think my answer above would be "safe" (since it is a 敬語
expression, though not the most 丁寧 one) and can achieve the same thing, I
think the reason why you may be having harder time (as I have browsing
Google先生) looking for an equivalent of っけ is that, within the social context
in which accurate use of 敬語 is very important, it might be that asking a petty
question for the purpose of getting a simple confirmation from someone above
you in status could even be considered somewhat indecent already.

Am I over-thinking? Perhaps, and obviously in daily communication it is your
intention and mutual respect that really matters, less your 敬語 word usage
(reason why even でしたっけ can be fine in some contexts), but there's a reason why
the politest form of 敬語 often demands you to explicitly express appreciation
for the time and effort on the part of superordinate.

So in such a situation, I could even go like

> よろしければお伺{うかが}いしたいのですが、テストは次の月曜日と記憶{きおく}しております。ご確認{かくにん}いただけますか？

This is certainly much politer, but you kind of feel the excessive politeness
in view of the insignificance of the question itself. Or just even

> ご確認させて頂{いただ}きたいのですが、テストは次の月曜日でしょうか？

would be okay.

In both cases, the major difference is the explicit concern for the
inconvenience that you asking question could cause. Such an expression for
that concern is often enough.




The original question basically comes down to finding an "honorific" way (yes,
that dreaded 敬語 thing) of saying だっけ？ or でしたっけ？

I would say a good and polite alternative would be to replace those
expressions with でしょうか？ To say

> テストは次の月曜日{げつようび}だっけ？

you say

> テストは次の月曜日でしょうか？

Of course depending on what comes before だっけ and also to whom you are talking,
the politer expressions would take slightly different forms. My example above
is not the politest but is generally good enough to sound not rude.

Edit after the OP added a few more examples:

I see what you mean. Your understanding of different nuances for all those
example cases is correct (mostly in line with mine, that is... and as you
abundantly know those nuances can change slightly in different contexts and
for different people). As I see, you are trying to find an equivalent of っけ
when used to remember something and doing so by directing a question to
someone else.

While I still think my answer above would be "safe" (since it is a 敬語
expression, though not the most 丁寧 one) and can achieve the same thing, I
think the reason why you may be having harder time (as I have browsing
Google先生) looking for an equivalent of っけ is that, within the social context
in which accurate use of 敬語 is very important, it might be that asking a petty
question for the purpose of getting a simple confirmation from someone above
you in status could even be considered somewhat indecent already.

Am I over-thinking? Perhaps, and obviously in daily communication it is your
intention and mutual respect that really matters, less your 敬語 word usage
(reason why even でしたっけ can be fine in some contexts), but there's a reason why
the politest form of 敬語 often demands you to explicitly express appreciation
for the time and effort on the part of superordinate.

So in such a situation, I could even go like

> よろしければお伺{うかが}いしたいのですが、テストは次の月曜日と記憶{きおく}しております。ご確認{かくにん}いただけますか？

This is certainly much politer, but you kind of feel the excessive politeness
in view of the insignificance of the question itself. Or just even

> ご確認させて頂{いただ}きたいのですが、テストは次の月曜日でしょうか？

would be okay.

In both cases, the major difference is the explicit concern for the
inconvenience that you asking question could cause. Such an expression for
that concern is often enough.

