Present perfect vs past simple

Question

Hi everyone. Thisis my first post.

And definatly not my last.

Can someone please tell me what the difference is between

Where did you go?

Where have you been?

Just to give you some context. I walk into the kitchen expewcting to see my husband. He's not there. A few minutes later he walks in, so I ask.......

Many thanks in advance

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

Welcome to English Forums, wvic.

I'm not really sure of what your concern is. Both sentences are uttered with the same intent. The first asks his direction of departure; the second asks his previous location.

Wvic123 · Answer

I'll try to keep this simple.

Ok, so you're taught at the beginning that pp refers to non specified time and past simple to specified time eg. where did you go last night?. Therefore in my origional Q you could use pp.

PP refers to something that happened in the past and has a consequence in the present. so my husband left but now he is here,so i can use pp.

However,you can use simple past if the action clearly happened in the past and is finshed.So, for me my husband left and went somewhere, he's now back which means where he went is in the past and all i care about is where he was, not that he's back.

Now here's what really confuses me. It says that questions and answers regarding detail, has to be in past simple. So for me 'Where' is a asking for detail.

For me both are correct, it just depends how the speaker sees the situation.

Ihave a few more questions,but i dont have time right now. Maybe you can help me out thanks

p.s I know my spelling is terrible, iappologise, my time is limited and so i type quickly

Mister Micawber · Answer

"It says that questions and answers regarding detail, has to be in past simple."-- Who says? I don't believe it. Also the idea of specified/unspecified time is not that clear cut

CalifJim · Answer

wvic123It says that questions and answers regarding detail, has to be in past simple.

I agree with Mr. M. that there is some misunderstanding here. I can't imagine where you got that "rule".

CJ

Wvic123 · Answer

I read on a site that questions with where,what who and when, are in past simple. That's why i'm getting confused. Also in one of my books it says'questions,answers and details about definite time are expressed in the past simple'. What does this mean exactly? I know that if i ask 'Have you been to the USA? The reply is yes, i can then follow with simple past 'when did you go?' What did you do?etc.

As regards to my orig question, do you consider both correct?

Wvic123 · Answer

Mister MicawberAlso the idea of specified/unspecified time is not that clear cut

Exactly. this is where it gets confusing for students. For a mother tounge it just happens automatically and you don't always know why, but with students you have to explain the choice you've made, and can sometimes contradict what you've taught them. I guess it's a case of what the speaker considers specified/unspecified time. Do you agree?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Where did you go? Where have you been?-- These are both indubitably correct and common utterances. Neither specifies a definite time. The going was a past act, but if he phoned you after that act from somewhere, you would say. 'Where have you gone?' Where are you now?'-- the going leads up to the present. Similarly, when he arrives back, you say, 'Where did you go? Where have you been?'-- the being leads up to the present. So I think that it is not what the speaker 'considers' specified time, but how s/he views the event.

I think our problem is with the word 'detail'. This 'detail' must be a specific, indicated point of time of the past action; other details would be irrelevant, I think.

When a specific, indicated past point is the time of the action, then yes, the verb is in a past tense, as you indicated: What did you eat yesterday? Where were you sitting in the theater last night? And I cannot think of an example where present perfect would work here.

Both can be used when the past event was at some unspecified but clearly past time: When did you get your hair cut? Who ate my cheese? Where have my red shoes disappeared to? What have I told you about staying out late?

In these unreferenced cases, I think that it is not what the speaker 'considers' specified time, but how s/he views the event.

Wvic123 · Answer

Thank you very much for your help.

Mister Micawber
Both can be used when the past event was at some unspecified but clearly past time: When did you get your hair cut? Who ate my cheese? Where have my red shoes disappeared to? What have I told you about staying out late?

This is what i've told my students, but just wanted to make sure I was correct.

CalifJim · Answer

wvic123 in one of my books it says'questions,answers and details about definite time are expressed in the past simple'. What does this mean exactly?

It's details about time that are relevant here, not details about place, manner, purpose, etc. Nevertheless, these other details (place, manner, etc.) may have a specific 'place in time' which would require the use of the past tense, not the present perfect -- whether that 'place in time' is mentioned or not. I explain this below.

wvic123I know that if i ask 'Have you been to the USA? The reply is yes, i can then follow with simple past 'when did you go?' What did you do?etc.

This is exactly correct. The first question establishes whether any trip to the USA occurred -- no matter when. You can't assign a specific time to an event that may not have happened. In other words the time is "indefinite" because we don't care about the time; we are not asking about the time; we are asking about the occurrence of the trip. We are asking, in effect, if this thing -- this trip to the USA -- is something that applies to you or not.

Once the fact that the trip occurred is established (when the answer is "Yes"), then we can ask "When?" using the simple past because we take it that the trip occurred at a specific time. That means that all the other details of that trip that we may ask about are also about an event with a "time stamp" on it, so those other details are also asked using the simple past. (I think that's what your book is trying to explain.) So we ask "Where did you go?", "Did you enjoy your trip?", "What did you see?", "What hotel did you stay at?", and so on. All of these follow-up questions are based on the fact we established with the first question -- that you took a trip to the USA. And common sense tells us that the trip occurred at some specific time.

You might think of it like this: Events that have a "time stamp" are talked about in the past tense. Let's take a very different example. Suppose the president is going to make a speech on television tonight at 8 pm. My friend Julia and I discuss this scheduled event during the day. I tune in at 8 and listen. The next day, I wonder if Julia remembered to watch. I ask Julia, "Did you watch the president's speech?" I don't mention any specific time, but both Julia and I know that this was an event that took place last night at 8 pm. The event of that presidential speech is "time stamped", so I don't ask "Have you watched the president's speech?"

In order to ask "Have you watched the president's speech?" we need a different scenario. Suppose the president's speech is available for viewing on the internet. I ask Julia to watch it whenever she has time, and I give her the link. In this case there is no "time stamp" on the speech. Julia is free to watch whenever is convenient for her. Several days later, I wonder if Julia remembered to watch. I ask Julia, "Have you watched the president's speech?"

I hope you can see the difference, though I realize that it takes some practice to develop the habit of thinking of events in this way, and these features of past occurrences which are so important in English will not easily come to mind at first if you are not accustomed to thinking "in the English way" about them.

CJ

P.S. "Where did you go?" is 'time stamped'. You went somewhere at some time -- at a time I expected you to be here. Where were you at that time?
Where have you been?" is not 'time stamped'. You were not here. Name the place you were at any time during the time you were not here.

There's very little difference in this case because the underlying message is the same in both cases: "You were not here. Can you tell me why? -- because I'm somewhat surprised about that."

Wvic123 · Answer

Thanks cj. That's how I had it my head but you explained it better<img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/> Ithought I knew the pp pretty well, but every so often  a question will come up that makes you think "ummm! Maybe I need to do some revision"

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