Diary - Recently, I've read an article about food additive E466

[Maybo]

@Maybo I meant this. (See below.)

This is copied from the website.

 

[Maybo]

(Notice also that I've corrected your modal 'could' to 'can' for both cases, not just the second one.)

Is it because "can" is more certain?

 

[jutfrank]

Is it because "can" is more certain?

No, it has nothing to do with certainty. It's about general possibility.

 

[Maybo]

No, it has nothing to do with certainty. It's about general possibility.

is "could" used for the general possibility for the past only?

 

[jutfrank]

is "could" used for the general possibility for the past only?

No, 'could' is not used for general possibility, which is why I changed it to 'can'.