っけ details
write + (past) + was it …? — digs for something the speaker knew once and has mislaid
kaita kke
was it …? — digs for something the speaker knew once and has mislaid
明日の集合、何時だっけ。
ashita no shuugou, nanji dakke.
What time are we meeting tomorrow again? casual
あれ、鍵、ここに置いたっけ。
are, kagi, koko ni oitakke.
Huh — did I put the keys here? casual
- た-form
- dictionary form
- past
- negative
- negative + past
- ます-stem
- noun
- na-adjective
- i-adjective stem
- formal
- alternant
Examples
was it …? — asking for a fact the speaker once had and cannot now retrieve
明日の集合、何時だっけ。
ashita no shuugou, nanji dakke.
What time are we meeting tomorrow again? casual
あれ、鍵、ここに置いたっけ。
are, kagi, koko ni oitakke.
Huh — did I put the keys here? casual
すみません、会議は三時からでしたっけ。
sumimasen, kaigi wa sanji kara deshitakke.
Sorry — was the meeting at three again? neutral
この資料、もうお渡ししましたっけ。
kono shiryou, mou o watashi shimashitakke.
Did I already hand you this document? neutral
去年の夏、こんなに暑かったっけ。
kyonen no natsu, konnani atsukattakke.
Was last summer this hot? casual
Formation
{V-ta}っけattaches to た-form{P}んだっけattaches to plain form{V-masu-stem}ましたっけattaches to ます-stem{N}だっけattaches to noun{NA-stem}だっけattaches to na-adjective{I-stem}かったっけattaches to i-adjective stem
Variant notes
- でしたっけ — the polite counterpart on a noun, and the reason this pattern reaches the workplace at all — 会議は三時からでしたっけ.
- だったっけ — the copula in the past — 締め切り、昨日だったっけ; the っけ itself never inflects, only what sits in front of it.
Notes
ん (行くんだっけ, ×行くっけ, ×行きますっけ). でしたっけ and
ましたっけ are what carry it into polite speech.
Related patterns
Similar
Both are questions the speaker half addresses to themselves in plain style, but かな has no polite form at all and is replaced wholesale by でしょうか upward, while っけ carries straight into polite speech as でしたっけ／ましたっけ — which is why っけ is heard across a counter and かな is not.
Lookalikes
Both close a sentence looking for the listener's help, and the difference is who is supposed to know — ね asks them to confirm something the speaker already believes (明日でしたね), っけ admits the speaker has lost it and asks them to supply it (明日でしたっけ).
A plain か-question asks for information the speaker never had; っけ presupposes they did have it, which is why 初対面で「お名前は何でしたっけ」 lands badly where 「お名前は何ですか」 does not.
Combines with
The explanatory ん is the only thing that lets this pattern ask about something still to come, and it carries into polite speech too — 行くんだっけ, 行くんでしたっけ.