Can anyone explain to me the difference between
Where were you yesterday?
and
Where have you been yesterday?
It seems to me that second question focuses more on the result of the previous day and the first on the sole fact that the previous day has happened.
Best Answer
The second sentence is incorrect.
Whatever your source for the "present consequences" rule, I'm not sure what they meant by that. I don't think that's how the present perfect is usually described. We usually talk about "continuing action" or "ongoing action", action begun in the past and continuing in the present.
"Have been" requires an ongoing action. You can say, "What have you been since yesterday?" That is, referring to a time period that began yesterday but is still continuing. Or, "Where have you been for the past week?", a period of time that began a week ago but is still continuing. Or more generally, "What have you been doing?" Not specifying a specific time period, but meaning action begun at some unspecified time in the past and continuing to the present.
But if the period of time under discussion is over, you have to use the past tense. "Where were you yesterday?" "What did you do on October 4th?" Etc.
The fact that a past event has consequences today does not make it call for a present perfect. Like if last month my house burned down, I would say, "My house burned down last month", it's in the past. That might still have consequences today. I might not have a place to live yet so I'm staying at a friend's house or sleeping in my car or whatever. But that doesn't mean I would say, "My house has been burning down." That would mean that it is still burning, that the flames have not yet been put out.
You can also use the present perfect to refer to an event that happened at an unspecified time in the past. Like, "I have thought about that many times." Maybe that's not really "present perfect" any more but some other tense that happens to use the same construction -- I'm happy to yield to someone more knowledgeable on that point. In any case, you can't do that with a specific time, because a key element is "time unspecified". That is, you can say, "I have thought about that many times", but you CAN'T say, "I have thought about that many times yesterday." You'd have to shift to a simple past then and say, "I thought about that many times yesterday."