Tonight’s song asks a question that nobody can answer easily: how can you mend something that is broken?
Learn from Songs · Unit 8: Modals · B1
How Can You Mend a Broken Heart
A song written by brothers after a bitter quarrel: can, could and be able to for ability and possibility (How can I…? I haven’t been able to…, Will we be able to…?), polite requests with could, and managed to, with Demetria, and a friendship broken by jealousy.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
A heart?
SOPHIA
A heart, a friendship, a family. The brothers who wrote it had just been reconciled after a terrible quarrel.
MARCOS
The Bee Gees! The ones with the high voices!
Before you listen: the song
London, 1971
The Bee Gees were three brothers, Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb, born on the Isle of Man and raised in England and Australia. In 1969 they quarrelled bitterly, and Robin left the group.
When Barry and Robin met again in 1970, one of the first songs they wrote together was “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”. They first offered it to the singer Andy Williams, then recorded it themselves. In 1971 it became their first number one in the USA.
In the song, the singer asks a series of questions: how can you mend a broken heart, how can you stop the rain, how can you start living again? He can’t find the answers. Years later, the Bee Gees became famous for disco music, but this gentle ballad shows another side of them.
How can you mend what is broken?
Listen: the questions
PHILO
Listen once. How many questions does the singer ask? Does he find any answers?
SOPHIA
Then listen for can. Answer Section A.
🩹 Listen to the song: “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart” (Barry and Robin Gibb, Bee Gees, 1971).Listen to the official recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”, Bee Gees.Read the lyrics →
Can and could: ability and possibility
DEMETRIA
How can I mend it? I couldn’t sleep. Could we talk?
SOPHIA
can / can’t = ability or possibility now. could / couldn’t = past ability, or a polite request (Could we talk? Could you help me?), or a possibility (It could rain).
Be able to: the other tenses
MARCOS
I haven’t been able to sleep. One day we’ll be able to laugh about it.
SOPHIA
can has only two forms (can, could). For other tenses, use be able to: present perfect (I’ve been able to…), future (I’ll be able to…), after other modals (I might be able to…), and after to (I’d like to be able to…).
Could or managed to?
PHILO
In the end, I managed to say sorry. I was able to find her.
SOPHIA
For a single success in the past, use managed to or was able to, not could: The fire spread quickly, but everyone managed to escape. (Not could escape.) But in the negative, couldn’t is fine: I couldn’t find her.
Sophia’s comparison: Joseph and his brothers
PHILO
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery. Years later, when they came to Egypt, he could have had his revenge. Instead, he wept, and embraced them.
SOPHIA
And Achilles and Priam: the old king came to Achilles’ tent at night to beg for the body of his son, whom Achilles had killed. And for a moment, the two enemies wept together.
DEMETRIA
So even the worst quarrels can be mended. It just takes someone to go first.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| can / can’t | ability or possibility now | How can I mend it? |
| could / couldn’t | past ability, polite requests, possibility | Could we talk? |
| have been able to / will be able to | other tenses of can | I haven’t been able to sleep. |
| managed to / was able to | a single success in the past | I managed to say sorry. |
| sorry for + noun / -ing | apologising | I’m sorry for what I said. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. What does the singer ask?
2. Does he find the answers?
3. Who wrote the song?
4. What had happened between the brothers?
5. What was the song’s success in the USA?
6. How does it sound?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. How you mend a broken heart?
8. we talk, please? (polite request)
9. I haven’t been to sleep. (ability, present perfect)
10. One day we’ll be to laugh about it.
11. In the end, I to say sorry. (single success)
12. I find her anywhere. (past, negative)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “I will can help you tomorrow.”
14. “Could you open the window, please?”
15. “After hours of searching, we could find the key.”
16. “I haven’t been able to call her.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Mending. In pairs, role-play two friends making up after a quarrel. Use Could we talk? I’m sorry for…, I haven’t been able to…, I hope we’ll be able to…
Discuss. 1. Is it hard for you to say sorry? 2. Who should take the first step after a quarrel? 3. Can every friendship be mended?
Write (100–120 words). A letter to mend a friendship. Write to a friend after a quarrel. Use can, could, be able to and managed to.
Now play the gamebook: Demetria mends a broken friendship.Play the gamebook →