23737
I am exchanging an email with someone of higher social status than me after
noticing a possible mistake on their part.

I want to say

> I'm wondering if a mistake has been made

My first thought was something like

> どこかに間違っているか聞きたいんですが。。。

But that, to me, sounds like I'm asking "is there something wrong?"

What would be the proper way of asking them without offending them?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-11T21:51:38.507
23733
2015-04-12T00:49:46.227
2015-04-11T22:09:03.253
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4044
question
questions formality
Asking somebody of higher social status whether they made a mistake
> 「どこかに[間違]{まちが}っているか[聞]{き}きたいんですが」

The problems with this sentence is multifold.

1) 「どこかに間違っている」 is ungrammatical.

2) There is **_no_** respect, politeness or humility expressed anywhere in it.
「聞きたい」 is something you would say to your close friend or someone much
younger.

When speaking to a person of a higher status, it is very important **not** to
sound judgemental even if you are 200% certain that s/he has made a mistake.
「どこかに間違っている」, even though it is ungrammatical, sounds highly judgemental. (It
would be grammatical if you drop the 「に」 or replaced it with 「が」, but it would
still lack all respect.)

The format that I would recommend the most in this case would be to "
**politely request a recheck** " even though you know there is a mistake. To
do this, it would often take an extra sentence or clause.
Respectful/polite/humble speech tends to take more words in Japanese as in
many other languages.

I myself would phrase it like:

> 「XXとありますが、YYではないでしょうか。[大変]{たいへん}お[手数]{てすう}ですが、ご[確認]{かくにん}お[願]{ねが}いいたします。」

or

> 「XXの[部分]{ぶぶん}に間違いがあるようです。[恐]{おそ}れ[入]{い}りますが、[再度]{さいど}ご確認いただけますでしょうか。」

The real question, however, is whether or not the rest of your letter would
sound equally respectful, polite and humble.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-12T00:08:58.947
23737
2015-04-12T00:49:46.227
2015-04-12T00:49:46.227
23733
answer