從直接引語(yǔ)轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)殚g接引語(yǔ)是一種表達(dá)行式的改變，不影響原意。例如：

　　① a. He said, "I am working now."

　　b. He said that he was working then.

　　② a. She asked me, "Do you like to sing?"

　　b. She asked me if I liked to sing.

　�、� a. "Go out!" the man said to the boy.

　　b. The man ordered the boy to go out.

　�、賐, ②b, ③b是間接引語(yǔ)，其形式和①a, ②a, ③a不同。

　　間接引語(yǔ)是種常見的句法，用得很多。正因?yàn)橛玫枚�，出錯(cuò)的機(jī)會(huì)也多。下面便是些例子：

　�、� He said that he would come tomorrow.

　　這里的副詞“tomorrow”要變成“the next day”。理由是：間接引語(yǔ)里的時(shí)間副詞或短語(yǔ)， 一般上要把其中的時(shí)間向前推，如： tomorrow: the next day; today: that day; last night: the night before; now: then; ago: before that time 等。

　�、� I asked what is wrong with him.

　　這里的“is”要變成“was”。須知：主句“I asked”和分句 “what is wrong with him”的動(dòng)詞時(shí)態(tài)必須配合。既然主句的動(dòng)詞 “asked”是過去時(shí)態(tài)，分句的動(dòng)詞也要過去時(shí)態(tài)“was”。此外，動(dòng)詞時(shí)態(tài)一般上也要推前，因此簡(jiǎn)單過去時(shí)態(tài)(Simple Past Tense)要變成過去完成時(shí)態(tài)(Past Perfect Tense)，如：went : had gone; left : had left.

　　⑥ John told her don't do that again.

　　這里的“don't do”要變成“not to do”才對(duì)。理由是：祈使句變成間接引語(yǔ)時(shí)的形式是不定式動(dòng)詞：“to + verb / not to + verb”，如：to come / not to come; to do / not to do.

　�、� She asked me where was I going.

　　這里的“was I”詞序不對(duì)， 要變成“I was”才是，因?yàn)殚g接疑問句(indirect question)里的詞序和敘述句一樣，是正常詞序，不是倒裝法，如：

　�、� He wanted to know who that girl was.

　�、� John asked Helen if she was free.

　�、� She asked me whether I could help her.

　　如果詞序是倒裝形式，就錯(cuò)了：

　　……who was that girl.

　　……if was she free.

　　……whether could I help her.

　　關(guān)于間接疑問句，還有一點(diǎn)必須注意的是，直接疑問句里的疑問詞要照用， 如例⑧的“who”。如果沒有疑問詞，就要借重連接詞“ if”或“ whether”之助，如例⑨和⑩便是。

　　在結(jié)束本文之前，順便提一提怎樣把表示驚嘆或愿望的直接引語(yǔ)轉(zhuǎn)成間接引語(yǔ)。

　　11. He said, "Alas! I am undone."

　　12. "Bravo! You have done a good job, Mary," said the teacher.

　　13. "Good Heaven!' Tom cried, "I'll never lie again."

　　把11-13，轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)?4-16時(shí)， 可以用恰當(dāng)?shù)膭?dòng)詞把深層的意思反映出來，甚至加些原文沒有的字眼，也無(wú)所謂：

　　14. He exclaimed that he was undone.

　　15. The teacher praised Mary, saying that she had done a good job.

　　16. Tom called upon Heaven to witness his determination not to lie again.