"Where were you so long?"

Translation: Wo seid ihr so lange gewesen?

[ab2531]

They have accepted my answer "Wo bist du so lang gewesen?"
Is it ok without the "e" in "lang"?

[MaximumWilli]

"Wo warst du so lang" is an accepted alternative.

[adelpine]

"Wo bist du so lange" is accepted. However I do not believe it is right.

[rnlddmrrs]

Is there a difference between so lang and so lange?

[adelpine]

In this case, "long" in "so long" is an adverb, so "lang" and "lange" are adverbs. "Lange" is the usual word while "lang" is a regional one. Note that "lange" is also a declination for the adjective "lang".

[slug_a_bed]

Is "what took you so long?" acceptable?

[adelpine]

No. In a word for word translation, wo translates as where and vice versa. On the other hand, "Where were you so long?" is different to "what took you so long?". So, their translations would be different.

[silverthornfire]

Seems like there is a word missing here..because it doesn't sound like something we would say (native English ). What took you so long is more in common usage where I am from. Perhaps this is more of an Americanism?

[Babelie]

I think "Where were you for so long" would make more sense.

[Airille]

I agree.

[adelpine]

The senses are different. Look at these examples:
Where were you so long? I was in London.
What took you so long? There was a long queue.

[shnifti]

its not obvious which specific time "were" reffers to in german language

[Katherle]

The distinction between the past tense (Präteritum) and the present perfect (Perfekt) is not as strict in German as it is in English. Mostly, it's just a matter of style. That's why an English sentence in the past tense ("Where were you so long?") can either be translated as "Wo warst du so lange?" (Präteritum, i.e. German past tense) or "Wo bist du so lange gewesen?" (Perfekt, i.e. German present perfect). Both translations are correct.

[cantgetno197]

What the hell does "Where were you so long?" mean? Do they mean "WHY were you so long?". "Where were you FOR so long?". Broken english.

[Sonja747776]

Husband goes out for milk. Comes home 5 hours later. Obviously it doesn't take that long to get milk, and there's nothing that could possibly take 5 hours at a grocery store, so it's clear he went somewhere else. My question is, "Where were you so long?" :)

[adelpine]

It is not broken English. Your second phrase has the same meaning and the same problem (ambiguity). See https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/so#Usage_notes_2

[BLACKLION111]

"Wo sind sie so lange" accepted also. It seems all versions are accepted. :)

[CalmlyBallistic]

It's still weird to me that it accepts lower case "sie" when you're using it as formal "you".

[SydneyBlakem]

Why is sein used and not haben? I thought sein was used if there were movement from A to B

[adelpine]

Because "gewesen" is a "Partizip II" and its auxiliary verb is "sein".

[KarenGourd]

I agree that the English translation should be "Where were you for so long?"

[RyanGhosh3]

How to differentiate between "ihr(you plural)" and "du/Sie (you informal/formal)" from a normal sentence?

I came across all the sentence only 'formal/informal you' most of the time.

[ritzg_98]

"Where were you so long?" is not a common, or even valid, sentence in English. We don't talk like that. Not in America, anyway.

"Where were you for so long?" is better. I get that they don't put the "for" in Germany. But, in America, we do.

[rajendrakarki]

'Wo seid ihr so lange', accepted. 19/05/20

[whypapa]

As a native English speaker, I can say that this sentence just does not feel right to say, and to be honest, I would not be surprised if this is not even proper English. I would personally say "where were you for so long?". This sentence just does not feel right at all.

[Sonja747776]

Native U.S. English speaker here: This sentence is very much in use where I live. The "for" is understood. It is certainly possible that it is a colloquialism; however, the Grammarly app doesn't flag it as being incorrect, so its use seems to be widespread enough to be considered acceptable. I can understand why it would be confusing to someone trying to translate that from English to German, though, if s/he is not familiar with it.