n'arrivais pas à dormir

couldn't sleep

→ ne
phrase Rare #33,032
couldn't sleep Uses arriver à + infinitive to mean being able to or managing to do something; n'arrivais is the imperfect form, meaning “wasn't able to” or “couldn't.”
FR: Je n'arrivais pas à dormir à cause du bruit.
EN: I couldn't sleep because of the noise.