Breakdown of Ég er ástfanginn en ég óttast að klúðra kvöldinu.
vera
to be
ég
I
en
but
að
to (infinitive marker)
kvöldið
the evening
óttast
to fear
ástfanginn
in love
klúðra
to mess up
Questions & Answers about Ég er ástfanginn en ég óttast að klúðra kvöldinu.
Does óttast work like the mental disposition verbs nenna and þora?
Yes, óttast (to fear) is another verb describing a mental state that frequently pairs directly with an infinitive phrase (að klúðra) to express what you feel about doing an action. The main difference is that óttast is a middle-voice verb (ending in -st), whereas nenna and þora are active verbs.
Does ástfanginn change depending on who is speaking?
Yes! Because ástfanginn (in love) is an adjective, it must agree with the subject. A male speaker says Ég er ástfanginn, a female speaker would say Ég er ástfangin (dropping the second n), and a non-binary person might use the neuter Ég er ástfangið.
Why is kvöldinu in the dative case here?
It is because of the verb klúðra (to mess up). This verb requires its object to be in the dative case. Kvöldinu is the dative singular form of the neuter noun kvöld with the definite article attached (the evening).
Is klúðra a formal word for making a mistake?
Not at all. Að klúðra is a very common, slightly colloquial word that perfectly translates to "to mess up" or "to screw up". For a more formal equivalent, you might see skemma (to spoil or ruin) or eyðileggja (to destroy).
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