El pasajero herido movía el hombro con cuidado, pero decía que estaba bien.

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Breakdown of El pasajero herido movía el hombro con cuidado, pero decía que estaba bien.

• estar: to be
• pero: but
• que: that

Questions & Answers about El pasajero herido movía el hombro con cuidado, pero decía que estaba bien.

Why is it movía and not movió?

Movía is the imperfect tense, and movió is the preterite. Both translate as “moved” in English, but they express different aspects of the action in Spanish.

• Movía el hombro ≈ “was moving his shoulder” / “would move his shoulder”

  • Describes an ongoing, background, or repeated action.
  • It sounds like you’re painting the scene: at that moment, the passenger was (carefully) moving his shoulder, not just once, but as part of the situation.

• Movió el hombro ≈ “he moved his shoulder (once)”

  • A single, completed event.
  • Would sound more like a specific action in a sequence of events:
    El pasajero herido movió el hombro con cuidado y luego se quedó quieto.
    “The injured passenger moved his shoulder carefully and then stayed still.”

In your sentence, movía works because it gives a descriptive, continuous feel: while all this was going on, he was (gingerly) moving his shoulder and saying he was fine.

Why is it decía instead of dijo?