Modals in the past + reported speech?

Question

If the original sentence looks like this: > You should have asked me, 'Can I take your car?' Should the 'reported speech' one look like this: > You should have asked me if you **could** take my car. Or: > You should have asked me if you **can** take my car. I think the first one looks better and is more grammatically correct. What do you think?

Answer 1

Hello,

Yes, you are right. The first option is the correct. The speaker is reporting an event in the past tense. The word "could" is used as a simple past of "can" in this sentence.