student asking question

Is this different from saying "where were you?"

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

Yes, it is! The difference is the tense. "Where were you?" is the past simple tense. "Where have you been?" is the present perfect tense. It references a time from the past until now, the present. Whereas "where were you?" could be in reference to any time in the past. Ex: Where were you on the 12th of July? Ex: Where have you been for the last few hours?

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