[Grammar] Tense of reported speech

[benkyearn]

Hi! Teacher,
It's okay not to correct all the mistakes in this post. I don't want to make you feel tired because I know I do a lot of mistakes lol. So, answering this question only is totally enough/sufficient.

Many tutorials on the internet say that I should convert the sentence to be in the past tense.
Eg:
Michael: "I'm hungry".
Michael said he was hungry.

What about the following sentence?
Doctor: "You can get rid of the side effects by doing...".
My doctor told me that I can get rid of...

According to the rule it should be could but according to my logic, I can get rid of them anytime. It's something that can happen everyday or repeatedly. For me, if I say could, I feel like I can't do it these days (may be due to a change in my heath issue). I can't do it anymore. So, which one should I use and why?
Thank you,

 

[GoesStation]

Doctor: "You can get rid of the side effects by doing...".
My doctor told me that I can get rid of...

According to the rule it should be could but according to my logic, I can get rid of them anytime. It's something that can happen everyday or repeatedly. For me, if I say could, I feel like I can't do it these days (may be due to a change in my heath issue). I can't do it anymore. So, which one should I use and why?

Follow the rule for reported speech. The listener will understand that the ability expressed by could applies in the present. That's how backshifting in reported speech works.

 

[jutfrank]

According to the rule it should be could

Right.

but according to my logic, I can get rid of them anytime.

That's right. The present tense can is appropriate in this context.

For me, if I say could, I feel like I can't do it these days (may be due to a change in my heath issue). I can't do it anymore.

Your listener won't think that, unless he has a special reason to. But if that really is what you mean, then could would be appropriate.

So, which one should I use and why?

Both words work fine. I think can may be a little better if you mean that you haven't yet tried to get rid of the side effects and want to suggest that you are going to try. If you just want to focus on reporting what advice the doctor gave you, then could does the job clearly. It might also be better to use could if you want to suggest that you don't believe the doctor, or doubt her advice for some reason. So it essentially depends on what you mean.

 

[GoesStation]

I'm pretty sure most Americans would backshift here. Saying he told me I can do something feels odd to me.