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Can anyone explain to me the difference between

Where were you yesterday?

and

Where have you been yesterday?

It seems to me that second question focuses more on the result of the previous day and the first on the sole fact that the previous day has happened.

some1 here
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    No, the second sentence is wrong. – Mohd Zulkanien Sarbini Mar 08 '17 at 16:28
  • To expand on that comment, "Where have you been yesterday" doesn't make sense, because have is in the present tense, but yesterday means that you're asking about the past, so they don't go together. – stangdon Mar 08 '17 at 17:07
  • @stangdon, but does Present Perfect means exactly present? Here is what I found: The present perfect is a grammatical combination of the present tense and the perfect aspect that is used to express a past event that has present consequences. The term is used particularly in the context of English grammar to refer to forms like "I have left". I mean past event with the consequences in present it seems to be past even though we use have. – some1 here Mar 08 '17 at 17:49
  • Yeah. Don't use it when giving details about past events. Also, see this. –  Mar 08 '17 at 18:13
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    Yes, it refers to past events from the viewpoint of the present. That's why we say that as of yesterday, I had never been to Mexico, but as of today, I have been to Mexico. – stangdon Mar 08 '17 at 19:47
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    When you explicitly confine the action to the past (using yesterday or ago) the present perfect is not an option. I saw him yesterday or I saw him a second ago. "Where have you been for the last 48 hours?" or "Where have you been since yesterday?" are valid uses of the pres. perf. since the action is not confined to the past, but impinges on the present. – TimR Mar 08 '17 at 20:46

2 Answers2

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The second sentence is incorrect.

Whatever your source for the "present consequences" rule, I'm not sure what they meant by that. I don't think that's how the present perfect is usually described. We usually talk about "continuing action" or "ongoing action", action begun in the past and continuing in the present.

"Have been" requires an ongoing action. You can say, "What have you been since yesterday?" That is, referring to a time period that began yesterday but is still continuing. Or, "Where have you been for the past week?", a period of time that began a week ago but is still continuing. Or more generally, "What have you been doing?" Not specifying a specific time period, but meaning action begun at some unspecified time in the past and continuing to the present.

But if the period of time under discussion is over, you have to use the past tense. "Where were you yesterday?" "What did you do on October 4th?" Etc.

The fact that a past event has consequences today does not make it call for a present perfect. Like if last month my house burned down, I would say, "My house burned down last month", it's in the past. That might still have consequences today. I might not have a place to live yet so I'm staying at a friend's house or sleeping in my car or whatever. But that doesn't mean I would say, "My house has been burning down." That would mean that it is still burning, that the flames have not yet been put out.

You can also use the present perfect to refer to an event that happened at an unspecified time in the past. Like, "I have thought about that many times." Maybe that's not really "present perfect" any more but some other tense that happens to use the same construction -- I'm happy to yield to someone more knowledgeable on that point. In any case, you can't do that with a specific time, because a key element is "time unspecified". That is, you can say, "I have thought about that many times", but you CAN'T say, "I have thought about that many times yesterday." You'd have to shift to a simple past then and say, "I thought about that many times yesterday."

Jay
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  • Oh! Thanks a lot. You made the point a whole lot clearer. – some1 here Mar 08 '17 at 20:00
  • I say, not "present consequences", but "present relevance", which is more general. To me, your "unspecified time" is an example of this: "I've thought about that many times" places the repeated thinking about it in a period which reaches right up to the present, whereas "I thought about that many times" doesn't (and implies that he's not going to think about it again). – Colin Fine Mar 10 '17 at 12:21
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The present perfect is used when the speaker has in mind some present relevance for the activity in the past: the precise nature of this relevance may take several different forms.

As other comments have said, "Where have you been yesterday" is unlikely - but it is not impossible, given suitable context.

As an example of where it is possible, suppose that you are visiting me for a week, and we are planning your activities over several days. In that case, what you did yesterday can be seen as part of the continuing series of your actions, and "Where have you been yesterday" is possible. Even in this context, "Where did you go yesterday" is more likely, in my view; but the perfect form is possible to emphasise that the visit was part of a continuing series.

Colin Fine
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  • Maybe the following example could show how the OP's second construct can be valid, when placed in context: "Where have you been since last Monday? In particular, where have you been yesterday? Madam? Where have you been yesterday?" – Evgeni Sergeev Sep 17 '20 at 03:41
  • @EvgeniSergeev: I find that just as unlikely in that context. In particular, where were you yesterday? or where did you go yesterday? seem more natural to me, even in that context. – Colin Fine Sep 17 '20 at 08:26