on aurait pu

we could have

→ on
phrase Uncommon #12,366
we could have Used to describe something that would have been possible in the past, often something that did not happen. Here, “on” means “we.”
FR: On aurait pu prendre le train.
EN: We could have taken the train.

Dommage, si tout avait sauté, on aurait pu partir en Amérique chercher de l'or.

Too bad. If everything had blown up, we could have gone to America to look for gold.

— Il était une fois en Chine (1991)

Si t'avais été polie, on aurait pu faire connaissance.

If you had been polite, we could have gotten to know each other.

— Une bataille après l'autre (2025)

On aurait pu prendre le sentier, à quoi bon escalader ?

We could have taken the path, what was the point of climbing?

— Decision to Leave (2022)

On aurait pu accomplir de grandes choses ensemble.

We could have accomplished great things together.

— Ne Zha 2 (2025)

Tu sais ce qu'on aurait pu faire avec cet argent-là ?

Do you know what we could have done with that money?

— Pierrot le Fou (1965)

Si je n'avais pas fait attention, on aurait pu chercher pendant des heures.

If I hadn't been paying attention, we could have spent hours looking.

— M le maudit (1931)

On aurait pu faire venir maman à Tokyo.

We could have brought Mom to Tokyo.

— Voyage à Tokyo (1953)

On aurait pu t'entendre ?

Could we have heard you?

— Elephant (2003)

On aurait pu aller à Chicago, Las Vegas, Monte Carlo.

We could have gone to Chicago, Las Vegas, or Monte Carlo.

— Pierrot le Fou (1965)

On aurait pu simplement en parler.

We could have just talked about it.

On aurait pu être dans la même classe.

We could have been in the same class.

— Taxi (1998)

Pour la question de l'eau, on aurait pu s'arranger.

As for the water issue, we could have worked something out.

— Bacurau (2019)

On aurait pu s'en servir pour appeler.

We could have used it to make a call.

— Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die (2026)

On aurait pu sauver Félix.

We could have saved Félix.

— Army of Shadows (1969)

On aurait pu évacuer les villes il y a des heures.

The cities could have been evacuated hours ago.

— Independence Day (1996)

On aurait pu les sauver !

We could have saved them!

— Dernier train pour Busan (2016)

Comment on aurait pu le savoir ?

How could we have known?

— L'Agent secret (2025)

On aurait pu vous voir !

We could have seen you!

— Harry Potter et la Chambre des secrets (2002)

On aurait pu entendre une mouche voler.

You could have heard a pin drop.

On aurait pu louper le bus.

We could have missed the bus.

C'est vrai, on aurait pu tous mourir.

That's true, we all could have died.

— White Snake (2019)

On aurait pu sortir tous les trois.

The three of us could have gone out.

— Une fiancée pas comme les autres (2007)

On aurait pu t'appeler quand on baisait ?

Could we have called you while we were having sex?

— The Big Sick (2017)

On aurait pu faire fortune.

We could have made a fortune.

On aurait pu se retrouver dehors, pourquoi t'es venu ici ?

We could have met up outside—why did you come here?

— Parasite (2019)