Breakdown of Ze zoeken er nu een stoffig fotoalbum.
een
a/an
nu
now
zoeken
to look for
er
there (in that place)
Questions & Answers about Ze zoeken er nu een stoffig fotoalbum.
Why does er come before the time word nu?
In Dutch word order, er typically pushes its way to the front of the middle part of the sentence. It belongs immediately after the finite verb (zoeken) or the subject, and it almost always comes before adverbs of Time, Manner, and Place, such as the time word nu.
What does er mean here?
In this sentence, er means "there". It acts as a location word pointing back to a specific place that was already mentioned in the conversation (for example, in the attic).
Why is it een stoffig fotoalbum without an -e on the adjective?
Because fotoalbum is a neuter (het) word. When a het word is preceded by the indefinite article een (a/an), the adjective describing it does not get an -e at the end.
The English translation says "looking for". Where is the word "for" in the Dutch sentence?
The verb zoeken inherently means "to look for" or "to seek" all by itself. While you can sometimes use the combination zoeken naar (to search for), using just zoeken followed directly by the object is perfectly natural and very common.