[General] Differences between potential and possible

[ALAMAS]

Hello, teachers and others.

I wanted to know the differences between the words potential and possible.


This morning, I was reading a news article on CNN, "Is it really dangerous to use a cell phone on a plane?"

In the article, there is a sentence "The Federal Aviation Administration supports the ban, citing potential interference with aircraft communication and navigation systems."

Can the word potential be replaced with possible in the above sentence?

I looked up dictionary, and it looks like potential means possible, likely, etc.


Another example is there is a sentence on one of the McAfee's web pages "to quickly identify and process possible false detections, McAfee has enabled this new process."

Again, is the word possible interchangeable with potential here?

Thanks!

 

[bhaisahab]

Hello, teachers and others.

I wanted to know the differences between the words potential and possible.


This morning, I was reading a news article on CNN, "Is it really dangerous to use a cell phone on a plane?"

In the article, there is a sentence "The Federal Aviation Administration supports the ban, citing potential interference with aircraft communication and navigation systems."

Can the word potential be replaced with possible in the above sentence? Yes, it can.

I looked up dictionary, and it looks like potential means possible, likely, etc.


Another example is there is a sentence on one of the McAfee's web pages "to quickly identify and process possible false detections, McAfee has enabled this new process."

Again, is the word possible interchangeable with potential here? Yes, it is.

Thanks!

"Potential" as a noun can't be replaced by "possible" but can, in some cases, be replaced by "possibilities".