Learn Hardcore Japanese: rainen atarasii mati ni hikkosu tumori desu.

引っ越したいです。 – I want to move. (focus on desire)
引っ越すつもりです。 – I intend to move. (focus on decision)
引っ越す予定です。 – I am scheduled / plan to move. (focus on external plan or schedule)

So つもり is about your own will/decision, not just an objective schedule.

What is the difference between つもりです and 予定です in a sentence like this?

Both talk about the future, but the nuance differs:

引っ越すつもりです。
- Emphasis: my intention / decision.
- Maybe not everything is fully arranged yet.
- Comparable to: I intend to move. / I’m planning to move (in my mind).
引っ越す予定です。
- Emphasis: plan / schedule that often feels more fixed.
- Suggests that things like dates, arrangements, bookings are more set.
- Comparable to: I am scheduled to move. / It’s planned that I will move.

In everyday conversation, they overlap, but:

Use つもり when talking about what you personally are thinking of doing.
Use 予定 when talking about a timetable, schedule, or formal plan.

Why is there に after 町 (as in 新しい町に) instead of some other particle? What is the difference from へ?

に marks the destination or target location of movement verbs like 行く, 来る, 帰る, 引っ越す, etc.

新しい町に引っ越す – move to a new town.

You could also say:

新しい町へ引っ越す

The difference:

に – neutral, very common; destination as a point.
へ – emphasizes the direction toward that place; often feels slightly more formal or written, and is a bit less common with 引っ越す in daily speech.

In practice, 新しい町に引っ越す is the most natural and common expression.

Why is there no に after 来年? Could I say 来年に新しい町に引っ越すつもりです?

Time expressions like 来年, 明日, 昨日, 毎日, etc. often appear without a particle:

来年引っ越すつもりです。 – I intend to move next year.
明日行きます。 – I’ll go tomorrow.

You can say 来年に, but:

In this kind of sentence, 来年に引っ越すつもりです is grammatically possible but sounds a bit stiff or less natural in casual speech.
来年 without に is much more common and feels natural.

In general, time-word + (no particle) + verb is very common in Japanese.

How flexible is the word order here? Could I say something like 新しい町に来年引っ越すつもりです?

Japanese word order is relatively flexible, but there is a most natural order.

Original:

来年　新しい町に　引っ越すつもりです。

Possible variations:

来年、新しい町に引っ越すつもりです。 – very natural.
新しい町に来年引っ越すつもりです。 – understandable, but the order feels less smooth / a bit awkward.

General tendencies:

Time expressions (like 来年) often come early in the sentence.
Place expressions (like 新しい町に) usually come after time or before the verb.

Natural patterns:

来年、新しい町に引っ越すつもりです。
新しい町に来年引っ越すつもりはありません。 (if you really wanted to emphasize 新しい町に for contrast)

For learners, it’s safest to keep time → place → verb as in the original.

What is the difference between saying 引っ越すつもりです and simply 引っ越します?

Both refer to a future action, but the nuance is different.

引っ越します。
- Plainly states a future action, somewhat like I will move / I’m going to move.
- Feels more definite, often like a statement of fact (especially if listeners already know).
引っ越すつもりです。
- Focuses on your intention or decision.
- Can sound slightly less final; you are talking about what you plan/mean to do.

Examples:

Talking about something already decided and arranged:
- もう家も決めました。来月引っ越します。 – The house is decided; I’m moving next month.
Talking about what you are thinking of doing:
- 今の家はちょっと狭いので、引っ越すつもりです。 – My current place is small, so I intend to move.

In many daily contexts, people might use either, but the focus (fact vs intention) is slightly different.

Is つもりです one word or two words? Can I use つもりだ instead of つもりです?

Grammatically:

つもり is a noun meaning intention / plan.
です is the polite copula (similar to is/am/are).

So つもりです is noun + copula: literally (It) is (my) intention.

In casual speech, you can replace です with だ:

Polite: 引っ越すつもりです。
Casual: 引っ越すつもりだ。

Other related forms:

引っ越すつもりだった。 – I had intended to move.
引っ越すつもりじゃない。 – I don’t intend to move.
引っ越すつもりはありません。 – I have no intention of moving. (polite, formal-ish)

How do I make this sentence negative or past tense?

Base sentence:

来年新しい町に引っ越すつもりです。 – I intend to move to a new town next year.

Negative intention (I do not intend to move):

来年新しい町に引っ越すつもりはありません。 – I have no intention of moving to a new town next year.
Casual: 来年新しい町に引っ越すつもりはない。

Past intention (I intended to move, but maybe it didn’t happen or you are talking about past plans):

来年新しい町に引っ越すつもりでした。 – I intended to move to a new town next year.
(often used when explaining that this was the plan at some past time)

If you want to say you actually moved in the past, you usually change the main verb, not つもり:

去年新しい町に引っ越しました。 – I moved to a new town last year.

Is 引っ越す transitive or intransitive? Why don’t we have を for the thing being moved?

引っ越す is generally treated as an intransitive verb meaning to move (house / residence).

It focuses on the person / household changing where they live.
The destination is marked with に: 新しい町に引っ越す – move to a new town.

You might see アパートを引っ越す or 部屋を引っ越す, but:

These are more colloquial and not as standard; some speakers use them.
Strictly speaking, more typical is:
- アパートに引っ越す – move to an apartment.
- 別の部屋に引っ越す – move to another room.

For learners, it’s safest to remember:

Place + に + 引っ越す for move to [place].

What does 新しい町 imply? Is there any nuance compared to just 町?

新しい町 literally means a new town, but new is from your point of view:

It doesn’t have to be a recently built town.
It usually means a town that is new to me (a place I have not lived in before).

So:

新しい町に引っ越すつもりです。
– I intend to move to a town that will be new for me, not necessarily a newly created town.

If you just said:

来年町に引っ越すつもりです。
– Grammatically okay, but it sounds like some specific the town that is already known from context; without 新しい, it loses the nuance that it’s a new place for you.

In actual conversation, you would likely specify more, for example:

来年東京に引っ越すつもりです。 – I intend to move to Tokyo next year.

There is no I in the Japanese sentence. How do we know who is moving?

Japanese often omits the subject when it is clear from context.

In normal conversation, if you say:

来年新しい町に引っ越すつもりです。

listeners will assume:

The subject is you (the speaker), unless context clearly indicates someone else.

If you want to make it explicit:

私は来年新しい町に引っ越すつもりです。 – I intend to move…
家族は来年新しい町に引っ越すつもりです。 – My family intends to move…
彼は来年新しい町に引っ越すつもりです。 – He intends to move…

So the unspoken subject is very normal in Japanese; context and conversation topic tell you who is meant.