Breakdown of Wij kijken naar het paleis dat hij ontwerpt.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
wij
we
naar
to
dat
that/which (relative pronoun)
Questions & Answers about Wij kijken naar het paleis dat hij ontwerpt.
Why do we use dat here to mean that, instead of using die?
We use dat because it refers back to het paleis (the palace). In Dutch relative clauses, you must use dat for singular het-words. If it were a de-word or a plural word, you would use die.
Why is the verb ontwerpt at the very end of the sentence?
The phrase dat hij ontwerpt is a relative clause, which is a type of subclause. In Dutch subclauses, the conjugated verb is always pushed to the very end of the phrase.
Can I leave out naar and just say Wij kijken het paleis?
No, you need naar. Just like in English where you look at something, in Dutch you almost always pair kijken with naar when focusing your eyes on a specific object.
Why does ontwerpt translate to is designing here instead of just designs?
Dutch does not have a separate tense for actions happening right now. The simple present tense ontwerpt can mean either he designs or he is designing, and you figure out which one sounds best from the context.