It was believed / said that...从句中一般过去时与过去完成时的使用 - 柯帕斯英语网

20 It was believed / said that...从句中一般过去时与过去完成时的使用

× It was said that Anna was fired for continually violating the company’s rules.

√ It was said that Anna had been fired for continually violating the company’s rules.

It was believed that the accident happened as an indirect result of heavy rain and snow storms in the city.(朗文)

Cleveland police said it was believed an electrical fault started the fire in a ground-floor flat.(朗文)

问: 这里的happened与started是发生在was believed之前,可字典为什么使用一般过去时.是省略了什么时间状语吗?

(例句来源: www.cpsenglish.com/question/24450)

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分类：从句综合

最佳答案 2020-11-12 08:22

只讨论词典例句。
It was believed that the accident happened as an indirect result of heavy rain and snow storms in the city.(朗文)
Cleveland police said it was believed an electrical fault started the fire in a ground-floor flat.(朗文)
语法上有时态一致原则，即如果主句谓语为一般过去时，则宾语从句的时态要用相应过去时态。例如从句动作先于主句谓语时间，则从句用过去完成时；从句动作与主句动作同时，从句用一般过去或过去进行时；从句动作后于主句谓语时间，则从句用过去将来时。
但在实际应用中，违背上述时态一致原则的现象是大量存在的。比如主句为引述动词的过去时，而宾语从句却用了一般现在时或一般将来时：
He said his girlfriend is an actress.
He said he will come tomorrow.
语法书对此的解释是，说话人在转述时认可转述的内容，认为转述的内容是真实的，在说话人说话时仍然是有效的，所以就以说话时为参照时间使用从句的时态。
如果说话人转述时持中立态度，对转述的内容是否属实不持观点，甚至持怀疑态度，则按照时态一致原则，以主句谓语为参照时间，从句用相应的过去时态。上述二句则为：
He said his girlfriend was an actress.
He said he would come tomorrow.
同理，当从句的动作先于主句谓语时间时，如果说话人不持观点，仅仅转述从句内容，则遵循时态一致原则，从句用过去完成时。例如：
He said he had sold his house to Tom.
如果说话人倾向于认为从句的内容属实，则可以以说话时为参照时间，从句用一般过去时。例如：
He said he sold his house to Tom.
现在回到上述词典例句。
Cleveland police said it was believed an electrical fault started the fire in a ground-floor flat.(朗文)
这句话显然来自新闻媒体。it was believed 后的从句内容显然是火灾调查小组的意见，说话人（记者）倾向于认可这个意见，所以started这个一般过去时，是以记者写稿的时间作为参照时间的。
It was believed that the accident happened as an indirect result of heavy rain and snow storms in the city.(朗文)
这句话从句谓语用一般过去时，也是因为说话人倾向于认可从句内容属实，而以说话时间作为参照时间。如果从句用过去完成时，则说话人对从句内容持中立态度。

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曹荣禄 -

擅长：动词用法,句法问题 | 采纳率 82% | 回答于 2020-11-10 18:34

默认排序时间排序

其它 1 个回答

刘永科 - 教育出版集团英语总顾问 & 英语系列图书主编 2020-11-10 15:23

擅长：语法理论,语言学,文化背景

主句的谓语动词，若是 “认知、观点” 类动词（如：think, believe, realize 等），宾语从句的谓语动词，其动作如果发生在先，也可以使用一般过去时代替过去完成时，仍然能够表示宾语从句的动作早于主句的动作。
网友的两个句子，虽然是主语从句，但因为是被动式，所以可以转换为宾语从句（看等号句子）：

It was believed that the accident happened as an indirect result of heavy rain and snow storms in the city.
= People believed that the accident happened as an indirect result of heavy rain and snow storms in the city.
Cleveland police said it was believed an electrical fault started the fire in a ground-floor flat.
= Cleveland police said people believed an electrical fault started the fire in a ground-floor flat.

又如：
I checked the orders instantly. That’s when we realized we made a mistake.
我立刻检查了订单。就在那时我们意识到我们犯了一个错误。

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noop 提出于 2020-11-08 20:47