[Grammar] Where have you been? Present Perfect or ... Past Perfect?

[JarekSteliga]

Is this common question grammatical? Clearly the person of whom the question is asked is no longer where that person had been or in other words that person's "being somewhere" does not extend until the present.

Therefore should it not rather be, "Where had you been?"

 

[emsr2d2]

"Where have you been?" means "Where have you been up until now?" For statements/questions which refer to the recent past and for times leading up to the present, the simple past is correct and perfectly sufficient.

If another previous time is mentioned in relation to your question, then the past perfect might be required.

I saw you walking along North Street yesterday. Where had you been?

 

[Raymott]

Therefore should it not rather be, "Where had you been?"

No, there is no need to use the past perfect simply because one thing happens before another.
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