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Ella iba a llegar hoy, pero se retrasó por un imprevisto.

Ella iba a llegar hoy, pero se retrasó por un imprevisto.
She was going to arrive today, but she got delayed by an unforeseen event.
From Lesson 150:Unfulfilled intentions (iba a...)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Ella iba a llegar hoy, pero se retrasó por un imprevisto.

Why do we use the imperfect iba instead of the preterite fue here?
The structure iba a + an action is how we say "was going to" do something. We use the imperfect tense (iba) because it describes an ongoing plan or intention in the past that usually gets interrupted or changed. If we used fue, it would mean she actually went somewhere!
Why is there a se before retrasó?
It comes from the reflexive verb retrasarse, which means "to get delayed" or "to run late." Without the se, retrasó would mean she delayed someone or something else. The se shows she is the one who experienced the delay.
Why use por instead of para in this sentence?
In Spanish, por is used to show the cause or reason for an action. Since the unforeseen event is the reason she was delayed, we use por. Think of por un imprevisto as meaning "because of an unforeseen event."
How does the word imprevisto work?
It is built from the word previsto (foreseen or planned) and the negative prefix im- (not). Used as a noun, un imprevisto means a sudden, unexpected event or a last-minute hiccup.

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