[Grammar] Reported speech - could have been

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barnej0096

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There is a sentence: 'There could have been more dissatisfied customers.' said the analyst.
The analyst suspected...
The answer is: 'that there had been more dissatisfied customers', and is it incorrect to say: 'that there could have been more dissatisfied customers'?
 

bhaisahab

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There is a sentence: 'There could have been more dissatisfied customers.' said the analyst.
The analyst suspected...
The answer is: 'that there had been more dissatisfied customers', and is it incorrect to say: 'that there could have been more dissatisfied customers'?

With "suspected" you don't really need "could".
 
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