verb-ている in potential form やってられないよ A girl is moaning about how she is treated for not doing her homework then pauses and says: > I assume this is a contraction of which would literally be "I can't be doing it". I've never seen the verb- form converted to potential before. Is it a common thing and how does it differ from, for example, in this case? Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree entirely. Either way, I don't understand what meaning this sentence is supposed to convey.

As you stated,

> ****

More informally, you will often hear:

> **** or even **** around Kanto (therefore, in fiction as well).

It would probably be better to treat a common phrase like as a set phrase rather than breaking it down to understand it.

**_It simply means "I can't stand it anymore!" You are saying what is happening is ridiculous._**

> "I've never seen the verb- form converted to potential before."

Really? It is used quite often. We say things like:

[]{}[]{}"What a boring movie! I can't watch it anymore!"

[]{}[]{}[]{}"Weird tune! Can't be listening to it!"

[]{}"I can't be eating an awful pizza like this!"

Whether you use the present progressive in your translation or not would be up to you.