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I have some troubles to correctly express myself in a certain situation so I'd appreciate any advice you can share with me.

Situation: I'm looking for someone. After some time I walk into a room and find the person inside. Do I say 'which of the options below'?

Options:

a/ This is where you are.

b/ This is where you were.

c/ This was where you are.

d/ This was where you were.

e/ This is where you have been.

f/ This was where you have been.

(g/ some other options?)

I'm perplexed and can't figure this out. If I was to say anything it would probably be b/, d/ or present perfect (e/ or f/ both sound ok to me, which makes it even more confusing to me).

Could you please show me on some example situations when to use which of these sentences (if they are grammatically correct :-))?

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The two keys facts:

  1. the person is in the room.
  2. the person was in the room before you entered.

Therefore a/ and b/ and e/ are valid.
Option c/ seems confusing

Options d/ and f/ are valid, but might the confuse the listener into thinking you are not there presently.

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    I would agree entirely with your answer but would just add that if the person is still there I would always say 'Ah, this is where you are'. However if I were discussing it with you later I would say 'This is where you were'. I would also use this latter form if you were still there but it was long after I had ceased looking that I saw you there.
    – WS2
    Dec 3, 2014 at 17:46
  • Thank you. I thought about it the same way, you really calmed my mind!
    – Petr
    Dec 3, 2014 at 18:13
  • @WS2 I would also consider using b or e if I'd been looking for them and had finally found them.
    – starsplusplus
    Dec 4, 2014 at 23:25

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