转述句：陈述句

当你告诉别人另一个人说了什么时，通常不会逐字重复对方的原话。与其说 "I'm tired," she said，更自然的说法是 she said (that) she was tired。这就是转述句（也叫间接引语）——好消息是，它遵循一条可以反复套用的主要规则。

简要规则： 如果转述动词（said、told）是过去式，那么被转述句子里的动词通常也会后移一个时态：一般现在时 → 一般过去时（work → worked、do/does → did），will → would。代词和时间状语也会随之调整，以配合新的说话人和时间点。

直接引语与间接引语

直接引语逐字重复原话，通常用引号标出：

• Maria said, "I live in Madrid."
• "We will call you tomorrow," they said.

间接引语传达同样的信息，但不用引号，而是融入到引述句中：

• Maria said (that) she lived in Madrid.
• They said (that) they would call us the next day.

注意这里发生了三处变化：引号消失了，动词后移了一个时态（live → lived，will call → would call），代词和时间状语也随新的视角作了调整（you → us，tomorrow → the next day）。that 在 said 之后、以及 told + 人 之后都是可以省略的——she said she was tired 和 she said that she was tired 都正确，she told me (that) she was tired 也是一样。

时态后移规则（backshift）

当转述动词是过去式（said、told）时，原句中的动词通常会后移一个时态。这叫做 backshift：

如果转述的信息现在仍然成立或依然相关，时态后移往往是可选的："I live in Madrid," she said，如果不久之后转述给另一个人，既可以说 She said she lived in Madrid，也可以说 She said she lives in Madrid——两种说法都很自然。

有几个情态动词不会改变：would、could、might 和 should 本身已经指向某种假设性或有距离感的情况，所以在间接引语中保持不变："I would help if I could," she said → She said she would help if she could. 当 must 表示逻辑推断而非义务时，也保持不变："He must be tired," she said → She said he must be tired.

中文转述别人的话时，动词本身通常不会像英语那样变形：“我很累”，她说 → 她说她很累。英语则不同：如果转述动词是过去式，后面的动词通常要后移一个时态，比如 am → was。这正是中文学习者容易漏掉的一步。

代词和物主代词也会变化

由于转述句是从另一个视角讲述的，代词和物主代词通常需要变化，以配合说话人是谁、被谈论的是谁：

• "I love my job," he said. → He said he loved his job.
• "We'll bring our tickets," they said. → They said they'd bring their tickets.

这里没有一条固定不变的规则——一切取决于是谁在向谁转述，因此仔细读懂每个句子，比死记硬背一个公式更管用。

时间和地点状语也会变化

指向“现在”或“这里”的词语常常需要改变，因为间接引语通常是在与原话不同的时间和地点说出的：

"I'll finish it tomorrow," she said → She said she'd finish it the next day. 这些变化并不是在任何情况下都自动发生——如果转述的内容是在原话说出的当天进行的，today 也可以保持 today 不变。正确的选择取决于实际说话的时间和地点。

什么时候不需要时态后移

时态后移取决于转述动词的时态，并不是一条要机械套用到每个句子上的规则：

• 转述动词是现在时或将来时，而不是过去时："I'm tired," she says → She says she is tired.（不需要后移——says 本身已经是现在时）
• 陈述的是一般事实或永恒真理："The sun rises in the east," he said → He said the sun rises in the east.（一般真理通常保持现在时，因为后移可能会让人觉得这个事实已不再成立）
• 陈述的内容现在仍然成立或依然相关——这种情况下，时态后移是可选的，而不是不论选哪种都算错，就像上面马德里的例子所展示的那样。

Say 与 tell

say 和 tell 都可以转述话语，但用法不同：

• say 后面不直接跟听话人：✅ She said she was busy，而不是 ❌ she said me she was busy。
• 当 tell 转述某人说过的话时，后面需要紧跟听话人：✅ She told me she was busy，而不是 ❌ she told she was busy（缺少了听话人）。

如果想在 say 后面点明听话人，可以加上 to：She said to me that she was busy.

常见错误

• ❌ She said she is tired（把“不后移”当成固定规则）→ ✅ She said she was tired 是通常的说法，即在过去式转述动词之后把一般现在时后移——不过，如果她现在仍然很累，✅ she said she is tired 同样成立。
• ❌ He told that he was leaving. → ✅ He said that he was leaving. / He told me he was leaving.（这里 tell 需要紧跟听话人；say 不需要）
• ❌ She said me she would come. → ✅ She told me she would come. / She said to me she would come.
• 在事后转述时，如果 tomorrow 已经过去了：✅ They said they would call the next day.（will 后移为 would，并相应调整时间状语）——但如果 tomorrow 仍然是明天，✅ They said they will call tomorrow 同样可以。
• ❌ He said he has finished. → ✅ He said he had finished.（现在完成时后移为过去完成时）

小测验

试着把下列直接引语转换成间接引语。

1. "I live in Berlin," she said.
2. "We'll arrive tomorrow," they said.
3. "I can speak French," he said.
4. "I've lost my keys," she told me.

要点回顾

• 间接引语转述别人说过的话，而不逐字引用；that 在 said 之后以及 told + 人 之后都可以省略。
• 如果转述动词是过去式，原句中的动词通常会后移一个时态：am/is/are → was/were，一般现在时 → 一般过去时，现在完成时 → 过去完成时，will → would，can → could，may → might，must（义务）→ had to。
• would、could、might 和 should 不会改变。当 must 表示推断而非义务时，也保持不变。
• 代词、物主代词以及时间/地点状语（today → that day，here → there）都会随新的说话人、听话人、时间和地点作出调整。
• 当转述动词是现在时/将来时、陈述的是一般事实，或者（可选地）陈述的内容现在仍然成立时，就不需要时态后移。
• say 后面不直接跟听话人（said to me，而不是 said me）；当 tell 转述某人说过的话时，后面需要紧跟听话人（told me，而不只是 told）。