# FR: Where have you been?



## lidboymk2

Où as-tu été ?

is this right for where have you been?
ou ou avez-vous ete? Merci


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## timpeac

Let's see what the natives say - but I think, although it looks like a literal translation of "where have you been", this would be interpreted as a colloquial way of saying "où es-tu allé" eg "where did you go?" as so looked down on by purists.

J'ai été en France l'année dernière - I went to France last year.


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## AlejandroValencia

I would suggest:

'Où étais-tu ?' or 'Où étiez-vous ?' depending on the form of address


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## sourisverte

It's not wrong but it's a bit spoken language. "Où étais tu ?" would be more appropriate or "où es tu allé", depending on the context.


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## orc13

Or maybe "où es/étais-tu passé?" (?)


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## marget

I don't think "Où étais-tu passé?" could work at all because that would be past perfect(plus-que-parfait).  A native speaker would have to comment the use of passer in passé composé to convey the notion.  I'm not sure it sounds right. Passer as an intransitive verb is often followed by a prepositional phrase - Je suis passé par Paris/ devant le musée, etc.


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## sourisverte

no, "où étais tu passé" is correct and frequently used. It just implies the notion of disapearance (even for a short time) as in  "où étais tu passé, je t'ai cherché partout".


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## AlejandroValencia

yep ''où étais-tu passé" is used. 

"où es-tu passé", though, I don't think so!


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## pieanne

I think that "where have you been?" is followed by a sentence in the present tense, like "the meal is stone cold".
In French it's quite frequent to hear "Mais t'étais où?", "Où t'étais passé?" in this instance.


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## paulvial

timpeac said:
			
		

> That's why I said it was colloquial for "went" and would be looked down on by purists - or are you saying that no one would say that?


sorry i misread you perhaps 
and yes many say (and not only foreigners , i might add ) " j'ai été en France ", but it does not mean it is right , in fact quite wrong i believe


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## KennyHun

Donc vous diriez "où tu étais passé" plutôt que "où tu es passé" (ce dernier serait-il quand même correct ou n'est-il pas du tout usité ?), c'est ça ?
Et si on reprend la question, on répond forcément au plus-que-parfait ou ça peut-être au passé composé ?
- Où t'étais passé ?
- *J'étais/je suis* allé voir un ami.


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## what_is_up

So it seems from this thread there are various ways you can say 'where have you been?': où es-tu allé; Où étais-tu; où étais tu passé.

In English we might use the phrase 'where have you been' in two distinct ways: 1) as a question to enquire about places someone has visited, e.g., "you arrived in France last week, where have you been?". 2) as a reprimanding enquiry, e.g., "you said you would return by 11 o'clock. Where have you been?"

In English we distinguish between these two uses by tone of voice probably. In French what is the case? Could you use any of the above phrases and change tone of voice, or is one more appropriate to one context than the other? I got the impression for example that où étais tu passé would be used for type 2).

Thanks


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## moustic

For type 1) you could say "Où es-tu allé ?" or probably "Qu'est-ce que tu as vu / fait ?"
For type 2) it's "Où étais-tu passé ?" as you say.


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## Maître Capello

Note that _Où étais-tu ?_ has the same ambivalence as _Where have you been?_ and the distinction is also made by tone of voice. On the other hand, depending on context, the 1st meaning is often better translated using _aller_ rather than _être_ as suggested by moustic (see also FR: j'ai été / je suis allé).


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