Breakdown of Hij wil zich verdiepen in de documenten, dus kijkt hij ernaar.
hij
he / it (referring to a 'de'-word)
in
in
kijken
to watch
willen
to want
Questions & Answers about Hij wil zich verdiepen in de documenten, dus kijkt hij ernaar.
Why do we use ernaar instead of naar ze for "at them"?
Because de documenten are inanimate objects. In Dutch, you generally cannot use a preposition followed by a personal pronoun (like naar ze) to refer to things. Instead, you must combine er with the preposition, creating the pronominal adverb ernaar (literally "there-at"). If he were looking at people, you would use the preposition + pronoun, such as naar hen or naar ze.
Why is the word order kijkt hij after dus? Doesn't dus keep the normal word order?
Dus (so/therefore) is a flexible word. It can act as a coordinating conjunction, which keeps the normal subject-verb order (dus hij kijkt ernaar). However, it is very often treated as an adverb. When you place an adverb at the start of a clause, it triggers inversion (putting the verb before the subject), resulting in dus kijkt hij ernaar. Both are perfectly correct and common.
Is zich verdiepen in a fixed expression?
Yes, the reflexive verb zich verdiepen in literally translates to "to deepen oneself in". It is the standard way to express that you are delving into, investigating, or thoroughly studying a topic, a book, or in this case, documents.
Why is verdiepen pushed back past de documenten in the first clause?