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My father went to Kolkata yesterday.

What does it mean? Is he still in Kolkata or somewhere else or he returned to home?

Let's think of another situation. My friend came to our house yesterday and he is still in our house. Can I say,

My friend has come to our house yesterday.

If not,then what is the meaning of this sentence?

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    Without further context, we don't know whether Father came back the same day or stayed there overnight.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Dec 17, 2022 at 10:06
  • It's ungrammatical to use present perfect ("has come") with a finished past time ("yesterday"), so your second sentence is ungrammatical. Either, "My friend came to our house yesterday", and may or may not still be there, or "My friend has come to our house _________", and is presumably still there.
    – gotube ♦
    Commented Dec 17, 2022 at 16:50

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The first statement says that your father went to Kolkata yesterday. It doesn't say if he came back or not, so you can't infer anything about where he is now.

The second statement is grammatically incorrect since it uses a present these (has come) with a past time modifier (yesterday).

If you say "My friend came to my house yesterday" you can infer nothing about where your friend is now. If you want to say my friend came yesterday and is still here now you could use

My friend has been staying at our house since yesterday.

Or you could let the wider context disambiguate:

My friend came to my house yesterday, and he will leave next week.

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  • Can I say "My friend has been in our house since yesterday"?
    – Sahil Laskar
    Commented Dec 17, 2022 at 10:34
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    You can. but is it what you mean (have they been inside? have they not been staying with you?) It seems unlikely that "been in our house" is the best expression to use.
    – James K
    Commented Dec 17, 2022 at 10:36
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Your sentence is not correct English. My friend has come to our house means that he arrived recently and is still here, but you can't use it with a date or time.

My friend came to our house yesterday needs further information to make it clear whether the friend went away again or is still with you. For instance: He left Christmas presents with us or He is staying until Monday.

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    Let's say my friend came to our house yesterday and he is still here. In that case which would be the appropriate way to express it in one sentence?
    – Sahil Laskar
    Commented Dec 17, 2022 at 10:37
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    Various possibilities, such as: My friend came yesterday to stay for the weekend or you could put it another way, My friend's staying with us; he arrived yesterday.
    – Kate Bunting
    Commented Dec 17, 2022 at 10:55

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