Why does 她可能会坐火车 use both 可能 and 会 — don't they both mean 'might'?
You need both: 可能 says 'I'm guessing', 会 says 'she will'.
可能 alone is a shrug: 'possibly'. 会 alone is a fairly confident call about the future: 'she will'. Stack them and you get a hedged prediction, which is exactly the mood here. The order is locked: 可能 first, 会 second. Swap them and native ears hear a glitch. Drop 会 entirely and 她可能坐火车回上海 just means the option is on the table, not that it's likely. "但是她可能会坐火车回上海。" ── [《去上海》](/read/train-or-plane-to-shanghai#s8)
| Situation / Pattern | Formula | Natural | Avoid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Confident future call | Subject + 会 + Verb | 她会坐火车回上海。 | 她会可能坐火车回上海。 |
| Soft guess about the future | Subject + 可能 + 会 + Verb | 她可能会坐火车回上海。 | 她会可能坐火车回上海。 |
| Option is on the table, nothing more | Subject + 可能 + Verb | 她可能坐火车回上海。 | 她坐火车可能回上海。 |