De asielhond ziet eruit alsof hij angstig is.

Because the main noun is hond, and hond is a de-word in Dutch.

In a compound noun like asielhond, the last part usually determines the gender and article. So:

• de hond
• therefore de asielhond

Here asielhond means a dog from an animal shelter.

Here asiel means animal shelter, not political asylum.

So asielhond means:

• shelter dog
• dog from a shelter

Dutch often makes compound nouns like this by joining two words together.

Because the verb is eruitzien, which is a separable verb.

Its dictionary form is:

• eruitzien = to look / to appear

In a main clause, Dutch usually puts the finite verb in second position, and the separable prefix goes to the end of the clause:

• De asielhond ziet eruit ...

Compare:

• infinitive: eruitzien
• main clause: ziet ... eruit

This is very common in Dutch separable verbs.

Literally, eruitzien is something like to see out/from it, but you should learn it as a fixed verb meaning:

• to look
• to appear
• sometimes to look like

In this sentence, it means the dog appears a certain way:

• ziet eruit alsof hij angstig is = looks as if he is anxious

You will also see it in sentences like:

• Je ziet er moe uit. = You look tired.
• Het huis ziet er mooi uit. = The house looks beautiful.

Alsof means:

• as if
• as though

It introduces a clause describing how something seems or appears.

So:

• De asielhond ziet eruit alsof hij angstig is.
• The shelter dog looks as if he is anxious.

It does not necessarily mean the dog definitely is anxious; it means that is how he appears.

Because alsof introduces a subordinate clause, and in Dutch subordinate clauses the conjugated verb usually goes to the end.

So:

• main clause: De asielhond ziet eruit
• subordinate clause: alsof hij angstig is

This is a very important Dutch word order rule.

Compare:

• Hij is angstig. = He is anxious.
• ... alsof hij angstig is. = ... as if he is anxious.

Because hond is a de-word, and singular de-words often take hij as a pronoun.

So:

• de hond → hij

Even if the animal’s biological sex is unknown, Dutch often uses grammatical gender this way. If you specifically know the dog is female, you may also hear ze, but hij is very normal with de hond.

In eruitzien, er is part of the fixed separable verb. In many cases, you should treat eruitzien as one vocabulary item rather than trying to translate each piece separately.

So in this sentence:

• ziet eruit functions together as looks / appears

Dutch has several verbs with er as part of the expression, and learners usually do best by memorizing the whole verb.

Yes. That is a natural alternative.

• De asielhond lijkt angstig. = The shelter dog seems anxious.
• De asielhond ziet eruit alsof hij angstig is. = The shelter dog looks as if he is anxious.

The version with lijkt is shorter and more direct. The version with ziet eruit alsof ... focuses more on outward appearance.

Both can relate to fear, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• bang = afraid, scared
• angstig = anxious, fearful

Bang is often more common in everyday speech. Angstig can sound a bit more descriptive or formal, and sometimes closer to anxious than simply scared.

So these are both possible:

• alsof hij bang is
• alsof hij angstig is

But angstig works especially well if the dog seems nervous or uneasy.

Because alsof already does the job of linking the two parts.

Dutch uses different conjunctions for different meanings:

• dat = that
• om ... te = in order to / to
• alsof = as if / as though

So here only alsof is needed:

• ziet eruit alsof hij angstig is

Yes, very often.

For example:

• De hond ziet er angstig uit. = The dog looks anxious.

This is actually a very common pattern:

• er + adjective + uitzien

So you have two natural options:

• De asielhond ziet er angstig uit.
• De asielhond ziet eruit alsof hij angstig is.

The second version is a little more indirect and literally means he looks as if he is anxious.

Not necessarily more formal, but it is a bit more expanded.

Compare:

• Hij ziet er moe uit. = He looks tired.
• Hij ziet eruit alsof hij moe is. = He looks as if he is tired.

These are very close in meaning. The alsof version can sound a little more observational or cautious, because it describes an impression rather than simply assigning a quality.

The past tense of zien here is zag.

So:

• De asielhond zag eruit alsof hij angstig was.

Notice two changes:

• ziet → zag
• is → was

The structure stays the same:

• main clause: zag ... eruit
• subordinate clause: alsof hij angstig was