How to Say "Where Were You?" in Arabic

أين كنت؟

ayna kunta?

To say "where were you?" in Arabic, you use أين كنت؟ (ayna kunta?).

This phrase is used to ask someone about their location at a specific time in the past.

What does it mean word for word?

The phrase is composed of أين (where) and kunta (you were, masculine singular).

The form changes based on who you are addressing. Use أين كنتِ؟ when addressing a female and أين كنتم؟ when addressing a group of people.

ayna kunta?

The root of أين is related to the word آن, which refers to a specific moment in time.
In some Arabic dialects, if someone asks 'where were you?' as a way of saying 'what have you been up to?', the literal meaning of location is entirely bypassed for a social inquiry.
In many spoken Arabic dialects, such as Levantine or Egyptian, people rarely use the formal أين كنت؟ and instead use words like كنت وين؟ or كنت فين؟ to ask the same question.

Noor is asking Youssef why he missed their meeting.

نور Nour

أين كنت؟ لقد انتظرتك لساعة.
ayna kunta? laqad intazartuka li-sa'ah.
Where were you? I waited for you for an hour.
يوسف Youssef

أنا آسف، كنت في ازدحام مروري شديد.
ana asif, kuntu fi izdiham mururi shadid.
I am sorry, I was in a heavy traffic jam.
نور Nour

لماذا لم تتصل بي لتعلمني؟
limadha lam tattasil bi li-tu'limani?
Why didn't you call me to let me know?
يوسف Youssef

كان هاتفي مغلقاً، أعتذر منك يا نور.
kana hatifi mughlaqan, a'tadhiru minki ya Nour.
My phone was off, I apologize to you, Noor.

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