Learn Dutch: Ik zoek het hotel. - I am looking for the hotel.

In English, we say "looking for", but the Dutch verb zoeken already means "to look for" or "to search". You do not need to add an extra word for "for".

Why do we say het hotel instead of de hotel?

In Dutch, there are two words for "the": de and het. The word hotel is a neuter noun, so it always takes het. You just have to memorize which article goes with which noun as you learn new vocabulary!

Why is the verb zoek instead of the full verb zoeken?

The full dictionary form of the verb is zoeken. Because the subject of the sentence is ik (I), you use the stem of the verb, which is made by simply removing the -en ending. So, zoeken becomes zoek.

How would I use a question word from this lesson to ask someone "What are you looking for?"

You would use the question word wat (what), followed by the verb and the subject. This gives you the question Wat zoek je? (What are you looking for?).