Learn Italian: Ha promesso che non rinviava l'appuntamento, ma ha scombinato tutto. - He promised that he wouldn't postpone the appointment, but he messed everything up.

Ha promesso che non rinviava l'appuntamento, ma ha scombinato tutto.

He promised that he wouldn't postpone the appointment, but he messed everything up.

Breakdown of Ha promesso che non rinviava l'appuntamento, ma ha scombinato tutto.

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"?

It means to mess up, to disrupt, or to throw into confusion. It is a great B2-level verb to use when someone's actions ruin a plan or schedule. It implies much more chaos than simply saying he cancelled (ha cancellato).

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...).