Tonight, a happy song. The rain has gone, the dark clouds have gone, and the singer can see everything clearly.
Learn from Songs · Unit 1: Present time · A2
I Can See Clearly Now
A song about the end of a storm: can and can’t for ability and possibility (I can see, I can’t see), going to for predictions (it’s going to be a bright day), and weather words, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
DEMETRIA
Like after a storm.
SOPHIA
Yes. And he can see the future too: he says it’s going to be a bright, sunny day.
MARCOS
I can see clearly now: it’s time for lunch.
Before you listen: the song
Houston and Jamaica, 1972
Johnny Nash was an American singer from Houston, Texas. In the 1960s and 1970s he spent a lot of time in Jamaica, where he loved reggae music and worked with a young Bob Marley.
“I Can See Clearly Now” came out in 1972, with a reggae rhythm. It went to number one in America for four weeks. In 1993, the Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff sang it again for the film Cool Runnings, about the Jamaican bobsleigh team.
In the song, the rain has gone. The singer can see everything clearly, and he can see all the problems in the way. The dark clouds are gone, and he says it is going to be a bright, sunny day.
After the rain, you can see further.
Listen: after the rain
PHILO
Listen once. What has gone? What can he see now? What is the day going to be like?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🌈 Listen to the song: “I Can See Clearly Now” (Johnny Nash, 1972), sung by Johnny Nash.Find the recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “I Can See Clearly Now”, Johnny Nash.Read the lyrics →
Can and can’t
MARCOS
I can see clearly. I can’t see the sun yet.
SOPHIA
can / can’t + verb for ability and possibility: I can swim. You can’t park here. Questions: Can you see the sea? No -s, no to: She can see.
Going to: predictions
DEMETRIA
Look at the sky! It’s going to be a sunny day.
SOPHIA
am / is / are going to + verb for predictions we can see now: Look at those clouds! It’s going to rain. And for plans: I’m going to visit my grandmother.
Weather words
PHILO
rain, cloud, sun, rainbow, storm, fog, wind · rainy, cloudy, sunny, stormy, foggy, windy.
SOPHIA
Noun → adjective: add -y: sun → sunny (double n!), rain → rainy, fog → foggy. It’s sunny today. There’s a rainbow!
Sophia’s comparison: the rainbow
PHILO
After the flood, God put a rainbow in the clouds as a promise to Noah: never again would the waters cover the earth.
SOPHIA
And for us Greeks, the rainbow is Iris, the messenger of the gods, running between heaven and earth.
MARCOS
So a rainbow is good news either way.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| can / can’t + verb | ability and possibility | I can see clearly now. |
| Can you…? | questions | Can you see the rainbow? |
| going to + verb | predictions from what we see | It’s going to be a sunny day. |
| going to + verb | plans | I’m going to go to the beach. |
| sun → sunny, rain → rainy | weather adjectives | It’s foggy this morning. |
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 has gone?
2. What can he see now?
3. What kind of day is it going to be?
4. What music style is the song?
5. Who did Johnny Nash work with in Jamaica?
6. Which film used Jimmy Cliff’s version?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. I see clearly now.
8. I see in this fog!
9. Look at the sky! It’s going be a sunny day.
10. Look at those clouds! It’s going to .
11. There’s a lot of sun. It’s today.
12. Excuse me, you see the rainbow?
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “She cans swim.”
14. “It’s going to rain.”
15. “I can to see the sea.”
16. “It’s very foggy this morning.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
The weather forecast. Look out of the window. Give a forecast: It’s cloudy. It’s going to rain this afternoon. Tomorrow it’s going to be sunny.
Discuss. 1. What weather do you like best? 2. Why do people feel better after a storm? 3. What can you see from your window?
Write (50–70 words). After the storm. Describe the moment after a storm: what you can see, what you can hear, and what is going to happen next.
Now play the gamebook: fog over the harbour, and a ship that can’t see the way.Play the gamebook →