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On ne peut pas conduire sans permis valable.

On ne peut pas conduire sans permis valable.
We cannot drive without a valid license.
From Lesson 94:The preposition without (sans)·French

Questions & Answers about On ne peut pas conduire sans permis valable.

Why is there no word for "a" after sans? Shouldn't it be sans un permis?
In French, when you use sans (without) followed by a noun, you usually drop the indefinite article (un, une, des) if you are talking about something in a general sense. So, "without a license" is simply sans permis.
The translation says "We cannot drive", but the French uses on. Why not nous?
On literally means "one" (as in "one cannot drive"), but in spoken French, it is the most common way to say "we". It is also used to make general statements like this one, meaning "people in general cannot drive". Remember that on always takes the same verb form as il and elle.
Does the 's' at the end of permis mean it is plural?
No, un permis (a license or permit) naturally ends in an 's' even in the singular form. If you needed to make it plural, the spelling would stay exactly the same: des permis.
Why is conduire left in its full infinitive form here?
Because it directly follows the conjugated verb peut (can / is able to). In French, when a verb directly follows a conjugated verb, the second one stays in the infinitive (the dictionary form).
Why does valable come after permis?
Most descriptive adjectives in French, like valable (valid), are placed after the noun they describe. Only a specific group of common, short adjectives (describing beauty, age, goodness, or size) go before the noun.

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