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

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Breakdown of Mis padres iban a mudarse este año, pero decidieron esperar un poco más.

• más: more
• un poco: a bit
• a: to

Questions & Answers about Mis padres iban a mudarse este año, pero decidieron esperar un poco más.

Why is it iban a mudarse and not van a mudarse?

Because the action is in the past.

• 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?