nous devions

we had to

→ nous
phrase Uncommon #19,880
we had to Can also mean “we were supposed to” depending on context.
FR: Nous devions partir tôt ce matin.
EN: We had to leave early this morning.

Il disait que je m'en tirerais, et que nous devions garder courage.

He said that I would get through it, and that we had to keep our spirits up.

— L'Échine du diable (2001)

Que se passera-t-il si nous devions échouer?

What will happen if we were to fail?

Nous devions faire au mieux avec notre petite maison.

We had to make the best of our little house.

Je ne pense pas que nous devions faire ça.

I don't think we should do that.

J'ai décidé que nous devions rester ici.

I decided we had to stay here.

Nous devions prendre une décision.

We had to make a decision.

Mais finalement, il a compris que nous devions partir.

But finally, he understood that we had to leave.

— Nuremberg (2025)

C'était un match que nous devions gagner.

It was a match we had to win.

Nous devions faire toute la route jusqu'à la station.

We had to walk all the way to the station.

Cela signifie-t-il que nous devions nous déclarer en faillite?

Does this mean we have to declare bankruptcy?

Nous devions agir rapidement.

We had to act quickly.

Même quand nous devions nous laver ensemble, il était très gêné.

Even when we had to shower together, he was very embarrassed.

— La Haine (1995)

Nous devions travailler ensemble.

We had to work together.

Nous avons fait ce que nous devions faire.

We did what we had to do.

Alors, dans la tradition des Cavaliers, nous devions les dénoncer.

So, in the tradition of the Cavaliers, we had to denounce them.

— Insaisissables 2 (2016)

Nous devions l'arrêter!

We had to stop him!

— मुन्ना भाई एम बी बी एस (2003)

Nous devions attendre dans les montagnes que Gandalf nous rejoigne.

We had to wait in the mountains for Gandalf to join us.

— Le Hobbit : Un voyage inattendu (2012)

Nous devions nous rencontrer.

We were supposed to meet.

— Star Wars, épisode I - La Menace fantôme (1999)

Il y avait beaucoup de choses que nous devions faire pour préparer notre voyage.

There were many things we had to do to prepare for our trip.