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Je ne peux pas lire et écrire en même temps.

Je ne peux pas lire et écrire en même temps.
I cannot read and write at the same time.
From Lesson 242:Time prepositions of duration (en, dans)·French

Questions & Answers about Je ne peux pas lire et écrire en même temps.

The current lesson is about en versus dans. Why do we use en here?
En même temps is a fixed idiomatic expression meaning "at the same time." While the general rule you are learning is that en shows how long an action takes to complete and dans shows when it begins, this specific phrase is a set chunk that just has to be memorized.
Why isn't it au même temps since "at the" is usually translated to au?
Direct translation often trips us up here! English uses "at the," but French uses the preposition en with no article (no le or la) for this specific expression. Saying au même temps is grammatically incorrect in French.
Why are both lire and écrire in their infinitive forms?
They are both ruled by the conjugated verb peux (from pouvoir, meaning "can" or "to be able to"). Whenever a verb directly follows a modal verb, it stays in the infinitive. Because they are joined by et (and), both lire and écrire share this rule without needing to repeat je ne peux pas.
Is it common to drop the ne in je ne peux pas?
Yes, in everyday spoken French, the ne is very often dropped. You will frequently hear native speakers say je peux pas lire... However, in formal speech and in writing, you should always include the ne.

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