Questions & Answers about Jeg er for nervøs til å ringe sjefen.
Why does the sentence use for nervøs instead of veldig nervøs?
In Norwegian, for placed before an adjective expresses too (an excess). So for nervøs literally means too nervous to do something. veldig simply means very and doesn’t imply inability.
Why is there til å ringe instead of just å ringe?
Norwegian uses the pattern for + adjective + til å + infinitive to translate too…to. Here til combines with the infinitive marker å to introduce the verb ringe.
Could I use for å or drop til in for nervøs til å ringe sjefen?
No. The fixed structure is for + adjective + til å + verb. You can’t replace til with for, nor omit it entirely before the infinitive.
Why is sjefen spelled with -en? Where’s the article the?
In Norwegian the definite form of a noun is shown by adding a suffix. sjef means a boss (indefinite), and sjefen means the boss (definite). There’s no separate word like the.