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Situation: I come back home and I see my father sitting on a chair waiting for me because it's late. What could he say? (Are all these questions right? Do they have the same meaning?)
1) where have you been till now?
2) where was you?
3) where have you been standing till now?
Thank you so much for you explanation.
Hi,
Where have you been till now?
is the only possible choice here.
Take care,
Palinkasocsi
He's more likely to say: "Where have you been?" "Til now" is redundant.Quote:
Originally Posted by dilodi83
2. The correct syntax is "Where were you?" He might say this if he had a specific time in mind, rather than all the time you were missing.
"all the time you were missing" is a specific time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Raymott
A specific time doesn't have to be an specific instant, minute, day, etc.
"Where were you?" is perfectly correct.
Where were you (all that time)?
:roll:
Yes, in places where the dialect uses the simple past in place of the present perfect, that sentence would be consistent.Quote:
Originally Posted by 2006
Elsewhere, "Where have you been?" is the correct tense if the father asked the question as soon as the son turned up. It is asked of a period of time leading up to the present. It often means "Why are you late?" and is not necessarily a request for details of where the person has been/was.
Naturally, if the father waited until the next day, he would say "Where were you?" not "Where have you been?"
Father: Where have you been?
Son: Sorry, I got caught up talking to Peter.
[This would normally be sufficient. However, if the father really wanted to know "where", the conversation continues]:
Father: Where?
Son: Down near the river.
On the other hand:
Father: Where were you?
Son: When?
Father: Ten minutes ago. A UFO landed and took our dog.
This has as much to do with pragmatics as syntax.
So, what's your opinion on the topic at hand?Quote:
Originally Posted by Pruthiraj