I know that giving positive answers to requests with could may sound impolite or taken as indirect negative answers -correct me if I am wrong- as follows:
A: Could you help me with moving out?
B: Yes, I could.
And I always found the conditional could used in polite requests (question form), but never in statements like the one in the business dialogue below until recently (aside from the past tense and deductions usage)
I have asked about the use of could before in the comments here, but I'm afraid I didn't explain myself as clearly as I should be. However, I found the dialogue below as a confirmation that "could" in the title is used to give the meaning in the present.
A As you know we've established a reputation in China. So, we propose
that the sandwiches and cookies should be packaged and sold in our
branded wrapping.B I'm afraid we couldn't agree to that because we put everything in
our own branded bag and it's company policy not to change this.A OK, but it's important for our corporate image for your customers to
recognize us as the suppliers of the goods so there should, at least,
be a label with our company logo on it.B I'm sorry but that's out of the question, I'm afraid for the same
reasons I just explained.A If that's the case, then we can't offer you exactly the same
products as the ones we currently sell. There'll have to be changes.B I see your point but we only want exactly the same goods as you sell
now.A Then, we'll have to increase the price of our products, if you can't
compromise on this.B I think we could go along with that. And what about in-shop signs
quoting your company as the suppliers? I think that could be arranged…
Source: here
The question is made simple to conform with SE guidelines. Is my understanding of could in the present is correct?
Best Answer
As Mooseman says, "could" indicates that something is possible. "I could help you" means "I am capable of helping you". Exactly what the speaker means by this can be ambiguous. He might mean, "Yes, I am indeed capable of helping you and so I will." Or he might mean, "I am capable of helping you, but I am not going to help you because what you ask is too difficult or boring or I don't like you" etc. You would have to hear or read the larger context to know which is meant. In speech, you often rely on tone of voice. Like if someone says, "Well, I COULD help you", putting emphasis on the word "could", that likely means that he won't. But if he says "Yes, I could help you" in a normal tone, that probably means that he will help.