例句如下:
The policeman asked the thief, “when were you born?”
The policeman asked the thief when he / she was born.
转为间接引语后为何不是when he / she had been born(变为过去完成时)?
以下内容摘自最新出版的《牛津英语用法指南》第三版278节,可以作为对你的问题的解答:
在间接引语中,说话人用的过去时常常用过去完成时来转述。
......
直接引语:I saw penny at the theatre a couple of days ago. 我几天前在戏院见到了彭尼。
间接引语:In his letter, he said he'd seen penny at the theatre a couple of days before . 他在信中说他几天前在戏院见到了彭尼。
然而,并不总是用过去完成时,尤其是在即使不把过去时变成用过去完成时,时间关系也已经清楚的情况下。
This man on TV said that dinosaurs were around for 250 million years. 电视上的这个人说恐龙生存了2亿5千万年。 (不能说:...that dinosaurs had been around ...)