Question 1

How does iba a quemar show an unfulfilled past action in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

The imperfect of ir + a + infinitive (iba a quemar) is the standard way to say someone "was going to" do something in the past. In this context, it heavily implies he was on the verge of burning his tongue, but ultimately didn't (perhaps someone warned him or he blew on the soup first).

Question 2

Why is the reflexive pronoun se used here instead of just saying él iba a quemar?

Accepted Answer

When an action affects a person's own body, Spanish uses a reflexive verb (in this case, quemarse). Without se, the sentence would sound incomplete, as if he were going to burn something else rather than himself.

Question 3

Could the se be attached to the end of quemar instead of going before iba?

Accepted Answer

Yes. When you have a conjugated verb followed by an infinitive, you can place the object pronoun before the conjugated verb (se iba a quemar) or attach it directly to the end of the infinitive (iba a quemarse). Both options are extremely common and mean the exact same thing.

Question 4

Why does the sentence say la lengua (the tongue) instead of su lengua (his tongue)?

Accepted Answer

In Spanish, when talking about body parts or articles of clothing, you generally use the definite article (el, la, los, las) rather than a possessive adjective like su. The reflexive pronoun se already establishes that it is his own tongue, so adding su would be redundant.

Él se iba a quemar la lengua con la sopa.

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