The man further explained that his cousin isn’t looking to get back the RM500 she paid. However, they would appreciate it if Mr Loke can look into this issue.
Should it be “could” instead of “can”?
Thanks.
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I’m not sure of the grammar involved, but ‘could’ sounds better to me.
However I think a better structure is:
they would appreciate it if Mr Loke looked into it.
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“The man further explained that his cousin isn’t looking to get back the RM500 she paid.”
In my opinion, even this sentence should have been: The man further explained that his cousin ‘wasn’t’ looking to get back the RM500 she ‘had’ paid.
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The man further stated that his cousin does not want the RM500 she paid back. However, they would appreciate it if Mr. Loke could look into this matter.
You are right in wanting to follow the standard practice of using the past (subjunctive) in a reported speech sentence. By using the present tense you are stressing the significance of the statement and making it actual.
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