Breakdown of Ha promesso che non rinviava l'appuntamento, ma ha scombinato tutto.
ma
but
non
not
tutto
everything
l'appuntamento
the appointment (m)
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
promettere
to promise
scombinare
to mess up, to disrupt
rinviare
to postpone
Questions & Answers about Ha promesso che non rinviava l'appuntamento, ma ha scombinato tutto.
Why is the imperfect rinviava used here to mean "wouldn't postpone"?
In formal Italian, you use the past conditional to express a "future in the past" (an action that was in the future when the initial past action happened): Ha promesso che non avrebbe rinviato l'appuntamento. However, in colloquial, everyday spoken Italian, it is extremely common to replace this past conditional with the imperfect indicative (rinviava).
Why use the passato prossimo for ha scombinato right after using the imperfect?
They are describing different types of events. ha scombinato (he messed up) is a completed, single event in the past, just like the initial promise (Ha promesso). The imperfect rinviava is only used in the middle as a colloquial shortcut for the conditional to express the content of that promise.
Is scombinare a common verb, and does it just mean "to cancel"?
Can we omit the word che in this sentence, just like we drop "that" in English?
No. In English, saying "He promised he wouldn't postpone" is perfectly normal, but in Italian, the conjunction che is absolutely mandatory to connect the main clause (Ha promesso) to the subordinate clause (non rinviava...).
Learn Ha promesso che non rinviava l'appuntamento, ma ha scombinato tutto and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free