De kassamedewerker keek haastig op haar horloge en zei dat de winkel bijna sloot.

Dutch very often makes compound nouns by joining words together.
So:

• kassa = cash register / checkout
• medewerker = employee / staff member

Together, kassamedewerker means checkout employee or cashier/store clerk, depending on context.

This is extremely normal in Dutch. English often uses separate words where Dutch prefers one compound word.

Here, keek op haar horloge simply means looked at her watch.

This is:

• kijken op
  • object = to look at something in this context
• haar horloge = her watch

It is best understood as the verb kijken with the prepositional phrase op haar horloge.

This is not the separable verb opkijken in the sense of look up or be surprised.

So in this sentence:

• keek ... op haar horloge = looked at her watch

A learner can safely memorize op je horloge kijken as a common expression.

Yes. Haar means her, so the sentence tells us the employee is female.

• haar horloge = her watch
• zijn horloge = his watch

The noun kassamedewerker itself does not have to be female, but the possessive haar makes the referent female here.

In Dutch, adjectives and adverbs often have the same form.

So:

• een haastige blik = a hasty glance
• ze keek haastig = she looked hastily

Unlike English, Dutch usually does not add a special ending like -ly to make an adverb.

So haastig can mean both:

• hasty as an adjective
• hastily as an adverb

Dutch main clauses normally put the finite verb in the second position. This is called the V2 rule.

Here the sentence starts with the subject:

• De kassamedewerker = position 1
• keek = position 2

After that, other elements can follow, such as adverbs and prepositional phrases:

• haastig
• op haar horloge

So:

• De kassamedewerker keek haastig op haar horloge

is a normal word order.

You can move haastig for emphasis in some contexts, but the given version is the most neutral.

Because dat introduces a subordinate clause: that the store was almost closing / was about to close.

In Dutch, when you introduce reported speech or a content clause with dat, the clause that follows becomes a subordinate clause, and the finite verb typically goes toward the end.

So:

• zei dat de winkel bijna sloot

Literally, the structure is closer to:

• said that the store almost closed

with sloot placed at the end because of subordinate clause word order.

Because dat de winkel bijna sloot is a subordinate clause.

In Dutch:

• Main clause: finite verb usually in second position
• Subordinate clause: finite verb usually goes at the end

Compare:

• Main clause: De winkel sloot bijna.
• Subordinate clause: ... dat de winkel bijna sloot.

This is one of the most important Dutch word order patterns to learn.

Sloot is the simple past of sluiten.

• sluiten = to close
• sluit = closes / is closing
• sloot = closed / was closing
• gesloten = closed, as a past participle or adjective

The whole sentence is narrated in the past:

• keek = looked
• zei = said
• sloot = closed / was closing

So the tenses match.

Also, Dutch often uses the simple past where English might prefer something like was about to close or was closing depending on context. The Dutch simple past can cover that meaning here, especially with bijna.

Bijna means almost or nearly.

So:

• de winkel bijna sloot = the store was almost closing / was about to close

The idea is that closing time was very near.

In natural English, you might translate the whole phrase a bit more smoothly as:

• the store was about to close
• the store would be closing soon
• the store was nearly closed

depending on context.

Bijna usually comes before the word or phrase it modifies.

Here it modifies the verbal idea of closing, so it appears before sloot:

• de winkel bijna sloot

That is the normal position.

You will often see:

• bijna klaar = almost ready
• bijna thuis = almost home
• bijna vijf uur = almost five o’clock

• horloge = watch or wristwatch
• klok = clock

So op haar horloge kijken means she looked at her watch, not at a wall clock.

This is a useful vocabulary distinction because English sometimes uses clock and watch very clearly, and Dutch does too.

Because both are de-words in Dutch.

Dutch nouns take either:

• de
• het

Unfortunately, this has to be learned noun by noun, although there are patterns.

Here:

• de medewerker
• de kassa
• de kassamedewerker
• de winkel

So the sentence correctly uses de for both nouns.

Yes, in many contexts you could say:

• ... dat de winkel bijna dichtging.

That would also mean something like that the store was about to close.

The difference is mostly one of wording:

• sluiten / sloot focuses on the action to close
• dichtgaan / dichtging focuses more on going shut

Both are natural, but sloot is concise and very standard in this kind of sentence.

Not exactly in nuance.

A very literal translation might look like the store almost closed, but in context the meaning is more like:

• the store was about to close
• the store would be closing soon

Dutch often uses forms that do not match English word-for-word. So it is better to understand the meaning in context rather than translate each word mechanically.

Sometimes in informal speech, Dutch can omit dat, but it is much more natural and standard to include it here.

So:

• ... en zei dat de winkel bijna sloot. = normal and standard

Omitting dat would sound more colloquial and is generally less safe for learners. It is best to keep dat in sentences like this.