Breakdown of Sie haben Angst, das Ziel nicht zu erreichen.
sie
they
nicht
not
Angst haben
to be afraid
das Ziel
the goal
zu
to (infinitive marker)
erreichen
to achieve / to reach (a level)
Questions & Answers about Sie haben Angst, das Ziel nicht zu erreichen.
Why does the German sentence use zu instead of a preposition like "of"?
In English, we say "afraid of not achieving". In German, phrases expressing a feeling or state like Angst haben (to have fear), Zeit haben (to have time), or Lust haben (to feel like doing) link directly to an infinitive clause with zu. You don't need a word for "of" because the zu clause does that connecting work for you.
Why does zu erreichen go at the very end of the sentence?
In German infinitive clauses, the zu plus the infinitive verb always gets pushed to the very end. All other information in that part of the sentence, such as the object das Ziel, has to come before it.
How does negation work in this infinitive clause?
To say "not to achieve", the word nicht is placed right before the zu + infinitive at the end of the clause. This gives us nicht zu erreichen.
Is the comma after Angst mandatory?
Yes, it is standard here! When an infinitive clause with zu depends on a noun in the main clause (like Angst, Zeit, or Lust), you must separate the main sentence and the infinitive clause with a comma.
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