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If my friend went to somewhere on weekend but i didn't know where did he go? And if i want to ask him like "Where are you going?" on Monday which sentences should i ask him?

Where did you go?

Where have you gone?

Where had you gone?

or ...

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Questions like this would probably be a better fit for the English Language Learners site. I hope you'll visit there and check it out. That site is just starting out, and we can use some good questions there. – J.R. Feb 12 at 11:10

closed as general reference by Kris, Urbycoz, Kristina Lopez, Bill Franke, MετάEd Feb 12 at 15:45

This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

4 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

You use the interrogative form of the past tense – ‘Where did you go?’ – because you are referring to a past event that occurred at a particular time and which is now complete.

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Can you give me an explanation of "Where have you gone?" which situation can i use it? or Normally, people don't use it. Thank you. – terces907 Feb 12 at 9:19
@erces907. You’re right. Normally, people don’t use it. That’s because situations in which it might be required rarely arise. Imagine that you don’t know where your friend is and you want to find out. In those circumstances you might just call and say ‘Where have you gone?’ but even that is fairly unlikely. Much more common is the question ‘Where have you been?’ You would ask that when someone has gone out and then returned. – Barrie England Feb 12 at 9:25
up vote 2 down vote

"Where did you go on the weekend?' would be the better one to use.

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... at the weekend, surely? – Graham Borland Feb 12 at 11:30
up vote 1 down vote

I'm up-voting Barrie's answer, which certainly is correct. This is more to cover the question in the comments as to when you might use the others.

First, as Barrie said, the most normal way of asking about a past event, is the simple past:

Where did you go?

A response in the simple past might be:

I went to my favourite restaurant.

The present perfect is used to refer to a past event that has consequences in the present. So if you were out with your friend, and then couldn't see them, you might phone them and ask:

Where have you gone?

They've gone somewhere, and that is still affecting things now.

You wouldn't normally use it in response (more likely would be the simple past to indicate where they went, or the simple present to indicate where they are). You might though use go in the present perfect if you left a note:

I have gone to the shops. Back in 10 minutes.

The past perfect is used when we're already talking about the past, and want to talk about something that happened further in the past that had an effect on that point. So you would need a context that was already in the past:

"I was out for a meal last night and I ran into Alice."

"Where had you gone?"

The context is the past point when they met Alice, and the question is about something further in the past that was in effect at that point.

The response could quite likely be in the past perfect too:

I'd gone to that new Japanese place.

It could also be in the simple past, changing the point in the past that is the context of what is spoken about.

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up vote 0 down vote

If you are surprised by the person being away (and you expected them to be home doing housework, for example) you could ask:

Where have you been?

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