Probably should be in adverts

[lankeela]

but it is a language/grammar question really. The toothpaste advert where the girl says "I had no idea that some of the foods I had been eating can cause acid wear" - shouldn't that be 'could cause acid wear'?

[sandyRoe]

Agree. If she'd said, 'some of the foods I eat,' then 'can cause' would be correct.

[HowardKennitby]

probably 'could' is correct but, given the context, the difference is minimal.

[HowardKennitby]

to be precise I would say 'could have caused'

[askyourgran]

Not a good turn of phrase, 'acid wear' sounds wrong anyway, a lazy way of saying ...."some of the foods I have been eating causes acid which wears the enamel from my teeth".

[lankeela]

I know I am being pedantic but every time I hear it, it grates on me! I shout at the telly 'could' - it should be 'could'!

[FredPuli43]

I suppose the conditional 'could' suggests an 'if'; the foods could cause acid wear only if certain conditions were met. The advertiser doesn't want to openly admit of that possibility but wants to suggest that some of the foods definitely cause acid wear in some people and so they ' can' cause acid wear.

[boomster]

Lankeela, you really are being pedantic!

Sorry, only kidding, I think you are quite correct in bringing this grammar error to AB readers' attention.
There's lots of other things that annoy me in English writing that I read, particularly in site forums, though I'll save thatrelated topic for another day. :)