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PreciousJones Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Listened

You listened in on every consultation and all the doctors said there was nothing they could/can do about my case.

Should I use can or could or are both useable.

Thanks!
  

Top answer

Both are fine, but native speakers usually backshift. You have been told this many times. A more appropriate thread title would be something like Can or Could?

— RandomGuy

  • Both are fine, but native speakers usually backshift.
  • You have been told this many times.
  • A more appropriate thread title would be something like Can or Could?
  • I would use a comma before and .
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5 Answers
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Both are fine, but native speakers usually backshift. You have been told this many times.

A more appropriate thread title would be something like Can or Could?

I would use a comma before and.
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If I don't backshift it's not wrong grammar? I always thought it would be wrong not to backshift.
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PreciousJonesI always thought it would be wrong not to backshift.
I find that very difficult to believe.
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Aspara GusPreciousJonesI always thought it would be wrong not to backshift.I find that very difficult to believe. After reading the sentence again, I don’t think both are fine. If you want to use can, then you should use is instead of was.
Which means, what I thought was right in this scenario, because at second glance you realized that it'd be better to backs
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I favored backshifting then, and I do now. I just overlooked the inconsistency of was … can. But then, not backshifting is always inconsistent, not always correct, and seldom preferable.

However, both of these are OK.

… and all the doctors said there was nothing they could do about my case.
… and all the doctors said there is nothing they
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