durften

were allowed to, could

→ dürfen
durf be allowed to; may + t past tense + en Plural
auxiliary · plural, past tense Rare #27,827
were allowed to, could Expresses permission in the past.
GE: Wir durften länger bleiben.
EN: We were allowed to stay longer.
Conjugation of dürfen
Past
durften

Sie durften das Hotel nicht verlassen.

They were not allowed to leave the hotel.

Antonio wusste, dass wir nicht gestört werden durften.

Antonio knew that we weren’t allowed to be disturbed.

Wir durften entweder Englisch oder Japanisch sprechen.

We were allowed to speak either English or Japanese.

Mehr durften sie nicht schreiben.

They weren’t allowed to write any more.

— Nowhere in Africa (2001)

Nur einige wenige durften bleiben.

Only a few were allowed to stay.

— Avatar - Aufbruch nach Pandora (2009)

Die beiden durften an einer Debatte zwischen Obama und Romney nicht teilnehmen.

The two were not allowed to participate in a debate between Obama and Romney.

— Loveless (2017)

Wir durften dir nichts sagen!

We weren't allowed to tell you anything!

— The Witch (2016)

Sie durften nicht aus dem Haus.

They were not allowed to leave the house.

Die jüdischen Kinder beteten nicht mit und freitags durften wir alles essen.

The Jewish children didn’t pray along, and on Fridays we were allowed to eat anything.

— Nowhere in Africa (2001)

Vor den Wahlen durften keine Unschuldigen sterben.

No innocent people were allowed to die before the elections.

— Elite Squad: Im Sumpf der Korruption (2010)