Learn Hardcore Spanish (Latin America): Mis padres iban a mudarse este año, pero decidieron esperar un poco más. - My parents were going to move this year, but they decided to wait a little longer.

Van a mudarse = they are going to move (now / future from “today”).
Iban a mudarse = they were going to move (future from a past point of view, often something that was planned but didn’t happen or changed).

In English, we use “was/were going to + verb” to talk about a plan or intention in the past. Spanish does the same thing with:

imperfect of ir + a + infinitive
iban a mudarse = they were going to move.

So iban (imperfect) sets the time in the past and shows it as a background plan or intention.

Why is mudarse reflexive? Why not just mudar?

In Spanish, when mudar means to move house / change residence, it is used reflexively: mudarse.

mudarse = to move (house), to change where you live
- Nos vamos a mudar. = We’re going to move (house).
mudar (non‑reflexive) is more like to change/replace something:
- Mudar la ropa = to change clothes
- Mudar la piel = to shed skin (animals)

So Mis padres iban a mudarse literally feels like My parents were going to move themselves (to another place), which is how Spanish expresses moving house.

Can I say Mis padres se iban a mudar instead of iban a mudarse? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say Mis padres se iban a mudar este año… and it is completely correct.

Both are grammatical and very common:

Mis padres iban a mudarse este año…
Mis padres se iban a mudar este año…

The meaning is the same. The difference is just pronoun placement with compound constructions (ir a + infinitive):

Pronoun attached to the infinitive: mudarse
Pronoun in front of the conjugated verb: se iban a mudar

Both styles are natural in Latin American Spanish; there is no real change in meaning here.

Why is there an a in iban a mudarse? Could you say iban mudarse?

You must keep the a. The structure is:

ir + a + infinitive = to be going to do something

So:

ir a mudarse = to be going to move
iban a mudarse = they were going to move

Saying iban mudarse is incorrect in standard Spanish. The preposition a is an essential part of this periphrasis (verb phrase).

Why is decidieron in the preterite and not decidían?

Because decidir here refers to a single, finished decision in the past.

decidieron (preterite) = they decided (once, at a specific moment or period).
decidían (imperfect) would describe an ongoing, repeated, or background action: they were deciding / they used to decide.

In the sentence:

…pero decidieron esperar un poco más.

the idea is that at some point they made a decision and that decision is seen as a completed event. That’s exactly what the preterite is for.

Why is it este año and not en este año?

Both este año and en este año can exist, but they are used differently:

este año = this year (as a simple time expression)
- Mis padres iban a mudarse este año.
en este año tends to sound more like in this year (as a time period) and is used in slightly different contexts:
- En este año hemos logrado muchas cosas. = In this year we have achieved many things.

In your sentence, este año works as a straightforward time adverbial (when they were going to move), so Spanish normally omits the preposition and simply says este año.

What does esperar un poco más mean exactly here: “wait” or “hope”?

Here esperar means to wait, not to hope.

esperar = to wait
- Decidieron esperar un poco más. = They decided to wait a bit longer.
esperar = to hope/expect (in other contexts)
- Espero que vengas. = I hope you come.

The clue is the structure: decidir + infinitive (decidieron esperar). That very commonly expresses deciding to wait longer before doing something else (in this case, moving).

Why is un poco más at the end? Could you say decidieron esperar más un poco?

The natural word order is:

esperar un poco más

This literally is to wait a little more / a bit longer.

un poco = a little, a bit
más = more

Más almost always comes after the thing it modifies (here, un poco). Saying más un poco sounds wrong in this context. So:

✅ esperar un poco más
❌ esperar más un poco (unnatural / incorrect here)

Is there any difference in meaning between iban a mudarse and se mudarían?

There is an overlap, but they’re not identical.

Iban a mudarse
- Focuses on a plan or intention in the past.
- Very similar to English “were going to move”.
- Often implies that the plan was changed or didn’t happen as expected.
Se mudarían (conditional)
- Depending on context, it can mean:
  - a hypothetical / conditional action:
    Se mudarían si tuvieran dinero. = They would move if they had money.
  - future in the past (more formal/literary):
    Dijeron que se mudarían ese año. = They said they would move that year.

In everyday Latin American Spanish, iban a mudarse is the most natural way to express “they were going to move (but then something changed)”.

Could you drop Mis padres and just say Iban a mudarse este año, pero decidieron…?

Yes, grammatically you can omit the subject because iban and decidieron already show third person plural.

Mis padres iban a mudarse este año, pero decidieron…
Iban a mudarse este año, pero decidieron…

Both are correct. Spanish is a pro‑drop language: it often leaves out the subject when it’s clear from context.

However, at the beginning of a conversation or without previous context, keeping Mis padres helps avoid ambiguity (who are we talking about? they = who?). So in isolation, the original sentence with Mis padres is clearer.

Is padres the same as papás? Could I say Mis papás iban a mudarse…?

Both refer to “my parents”, but the tone is slightly different:

Mis padres = my parents (more neutral, slightly more formal).
Mis papás = my parents (more informal/affectionate, common in much of Latin America).

You can absolutely say:

Mis papás iban a mudarse este año, pero decidieron esperar un poco más.

In Latin America, papás is very common in spoken language. Padres sounds a bit more formal or written, but it’s still very frequent and completely normal.