non si poteva

couldn't; it wasn't possible to

→ non
phrase Rare #27,072
couldn't; it wasn't possible to Often uses impersonal si, meaning that something was not possible for people in general or for someone understood from context.
IT: Non si poteva parcheggiare qui.
EN: You couldn't park here.

Del tram da cui non si poteva scendere fino al capolinea.

Of the tram from which you couldn't get off until the terminus.

— La fiamma del peccato (1944)

Non si poteva fidare di lei.

He couldn't trust her.

Con quelli lì non si poteva stare.

You just couldn't live with those people.

— Il gattopardo (1963)

Non si poteva togliere le calze.

You couldn't take off your socks.

Per portare in porto una nave grande, non si poteva desiderare di meglio.

You couldn’t ask for anything better for bringing a large ship into port.

Non si poteva capire quale fosse il problema finché non era troppo tardi.

It was impossible to tell what the problem was until it was too late.

Non si poteva saperlo.

There was no way of knowing.

Non c'era alcun modo per sapere che lì non si poteva parcheggiare.

There was no way to know that you weren’t allowed to park there.

— Storie pazzesche (2014)

E secondo il personale, non si poteva entrare se non con la sua chiave.

And according to the staff, you couldn't get in without their key.

— Contrattempo (2017)