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Iba a limpiarme la mano, pero ya iba chorreando por el pulgar.

Iba a limpiarme la mano, pero ya iba chorreando por el pulgar.
I was going to clean my hand, but it was already dripping down my thumb.
From Lesson 439:Unfulfilled intentions (iba a)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Iba a limpiarme la mano, pero ya iba chorreando por el pulgar.

How does Iba a limpiarme show that the intention was unfulfilled?
Using the imperfect form of ir (iba) followed by a and an infinitive (limpiar) translates to 'I was going to...'. This structure sets up a past plan that was interrupted or cancelled, which is confirmed here by the word pero (but) introducing the reason the action never actually happened.
The word iba appears twice in this sentence. Do they have the same subject?
No, they don't! The first Iba goes with the pronoun -me attached to limpiarme, so the subject is 'I' (I was going to clean). The second iba refers to whatever liquid was dripping (chorreando), so it is in the third-person singular ('it'). Context is key to telling them apart.
Why does the second half use iba chorreando instead of estaba chorreando for 'was dripping'?
While both can mean 'was dripping', using ir plus a gerund (iba chorreando) emphasizes a gradual, ongoing movement. It paints a vivid picture of the liquid actively traveling further along the thumb, whereas estaba chorreando would simply state the static fact that it was dripping at that moment.
Why does the sentence say limpiarme la mano instead of limpiar mi mano?
In Spanish, you generally use definite articles (la) with body parts rather than possessive adjectives (mi). To show whose hand it is, you use an indirect or reflexive pronoun. Here, the -me attached to the end of the infinitive limpiar does the job of showing it is 'my' hand.
What is the function of por in the phrase por el pulgar?
The preposition por is used here to indicate movement along, down, or through a physical space. Since the liquid is moving along the surface of the thumb, por perfectly captures that physical path.

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