Breakdown of Dat huis lijkt op een museum.
het huis
the house
op
on
dat
that (het-words)
het museum
the museum
lijken
to seem
Questions & Answers about Dat huis lijkt op een museum.
Why do we use dat instead of die for 'that' house?
In Dutch, the word for 'that' depends on whether the noun is a de-word or a het-word. Because house is a het-word (het huis), you must use dat. If it were a de-word, you would use die.
I thought lijken meant 'to seem'. Why does it mean 'looks like' here?
You are right that lijken on its own means 'to seem'. But when you pair it with the preposition op, it creates the fixed phrase lijken op, which specifically means 'to look like' or 'to resemble' someone or something.
Why can't I just literally translate 'looks like' as kijkt als?
It is a very common trap for English speakers! In Dutch, kijken is the physical action of looking with your eyes (like watching TV or looking at a painting). Because a house does not have eyes, it cannot kijken. To describe an appearance or resemblance, you always use lijken op.
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