Breakdown of Il allait poster le colis, mais il a eu un contretemps.
un
a / an (masculine)
il
he
mais
but
avoir
to have
Questions & Answers about Il allait poster le colis, mais il a eu un contretemps.
How does allait poster show that the action didn't actually happen?
By putting aller in the imparfait (allait) and adding an infinitive (poster), you are saying he "was going to post" it. The imparfait describes an ongoing past intention. The second half of the sentence then introduces a complication, making it clear this plan was unfulfilled.
Why switch to the passé composé for a eu?
Where does the word contretemps come from?
It literally translates to "against" (contre) "time" (temps), which is a great way to remember that it means a setback, hitch, or unforeseen delay that messes up your schedule! Notice that it keeps the silent -s at the end even though it is singular here (un contretemps).