動く

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 動く is read as うごく and means “to move”.
• Basic usage: It describes a wound-up wooden doll moving and a cloud shadow drifting across grassland.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Key distinction: 動いていた
  • It is intransitive, with the moving entity as subject. 動いていた presents motion continuing in the past.