ils devaient

had to, were supposed to

→ devoir
auxiliary · third plural · imperfect indicative Uncommon #20,665
had to, were supposed to Imperfect past (they); often expresses obligation or what was expected in the past.
FR: Ils devaient partir tôt ce matin.
EN: They had to leave early this morning.
Conjugation of devoir
Indicative imperfect
SingularPlural
First devais
Second devais
Third devait devaient
du

Mes collègues devaient examiner toutes les possibilités.

My colleagues had to examine all the possibilities.

— Ne le dis à personne (2006)

Ils ont dit que les enfants devaient se doucher et je ne veux pas.

They said the children had to shower and I don't want them to.

— La vie est belle (1997)

Après ça, les matelas devaient être vraiment sales.

After that, the mattresses must have been really dirty.

— Aquarius (2016)

Toutes deux ne devaient jamais plus se rencontrer.

The two were never to meet again.

Tom et Mary ont dit qu'ils devaient faire ça avant de partir.

Tom and Mary said they had to do that before leaving.

Ils ne devaient pas s'arrêter.

They weren't supposed to stop.

— Voyage à Tokyo (1953)

On a dit que les gens devaient pouvoir se reconnaître à l'écran.

It was said that people should be able to recognize themselves on screen.

— No (2012)

Avant l'Internet, les amis et les amoureux devaient correspondre.

Before the Internet, friends and lovers had to correspond with each other.

Même à l'institut, tous les honneurs devaient me revenir!

Even at the institute, all the honors were supposed to go to me!

— The Garden of Sinners, film 5 : Spirale contradictoire (2008)

Mais les années de paix et d'abondance ne devaient pas durer.

But the years of peace and abundance were not to last.

— Le Hobbit : Un voyage inattendu (2012)

Tous deux ne devaient jamais plus se rencontrer.

The two were never to meet again.

D'autres devaient encore être convaincus.

Others still had to be convinced.

— Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

Vos toilettes devaient être réparées.

Your toilet needed to be repaired.

— Article 15 (2019)

Jimmy et Tommy devaient descendre à Tampa.

Jimmy and Tommy were supposed to get off in Tampa.

— Les Affranchis (1990)

Ici, seules les choses qu'on désirait devaient arriver.

Here, only the things one desired were to happen.

Sergent, il reste plus que ceux qui devaient y rester.

Sergeant, there are more left than those who were supposed to stay.

— Carandiru (2003)

Même s'ils devaient affronter un lion, il n'y aurait pas autant de monde.

Even if they had to face a lion, there wouldn’t be this many people.

— Dangal (2016)

Tommy et Carbone devaient obliger le gardien à nous ouvrir la grille.

Tommy and Carbone had to force the guard to open the gate for us.

— Les Affranchis (1990)