يراقب الحيوان المفترس الفريسة.

Because Arabic very often uses verb–subject–object order, especially in straightforward narrative sentences.

So this sentence is structured as:

• يراقب = watches / is watching
• الحيوان المفترس = the predatory animal / the predator
• الفريسة = the prey

This is completely natural in Modern Standard Arabic.
You could also say:

الحيوان المفترس يراقب الفريسة

That order is also possible, but starting with the verb is very common.

In this sentence, the normal word order helps:

• يراقب = verb
• الحيوان المفترس = subject
• الفريسة = object

If the sentence is fully vowelled, the case endings make it even clearer:

• يُراقِبُ الحيوانُ المُفْتَرِسُ الفريسةَ

Here:

• الحيوانُ ends with -u → nominative → subject
• الفريسةَ ends with -a → accusative → direct object

In ordinary writing, these short vowels are usually omitted, so learners often rely on word order and context.

يراقب is the present/imperfect tense form of the verb راقب.

It means something like:

• he watches
• he is watching
• he monitors
• he observes

In this sentence it is:

• 3rd person
• masculine
• singular

So the implied subject built into the verb is he, but then Arabic states the actual subject afterward: الحيوان المفترس.

Here المفترس is functioning like an adjective describing الحيوان.

So:

• الحيوان = the animal
• المفترس = predatory / predating / predator-like

Together:

• الحيوان المفترس = the predatory animal
• more naturally in English: the predator

This is a very common Arabic pattern: noun + adjective.

Unlike English, the adjective usually comes after the noun.

Because in Arabic, an adjective agrees with the noun it describes in definiteness.

So if the noun is definite:

• الحيوان = the animal

then the adjective must also be definite:

• المفترس = the predatory

That gives:

• الحيوان المفترس = the predatory animal

If the noun were indefinite, the adjective would also be indefinite:

• حيوان مفترس = a predatory animal

This matching is very important in Arabic.

Because the sentence is talking about a specific or understood prey: the prey.

So:

• الفريسة = the prey

In Arabic, it is normal to mark this with الـ even in cases where English might sometimes prefer a more general translation like prey.

So depending on context, الفريسة could be translated as:

• the prey
• or simply prey

But grammatically in Arabic, it is definite here.

A fully vocalized version would be:

يُراقِبُ الحيوانُ المُفْتَرِسُ الفريسةَ

The endings are:

• يُراقِبُ → -u because it is an indicative present verb
• الحيوانُ → nominative, because it is the subject
• المُفْتَرِسُ → nominative too, because it is an adjective describing the subject
• الفريسةَ → accusative, because it is the direct object

So the grammar is visible through the vowels, even though normal Arabic writing usually leaves them out.

The subject الحيوان المفترس is singular, so the verb is singular too.

• الحيوان = the animal
• singular masculine noun

Therefore:

• يراقب = he watches / it watches

Arabic verbs must agree with their subjects, though the exact agreement can depend on word order and whether the subject is singular, dual, or plural. In this sentence, singular masculine is the expected form.

A careful pronunciation with case endings is:

yurāqibu al-ḥayawānu al-muftarisu al-farīsata

Without focusing on full case endings, learners often say something closer to:

yurāqib al-ḥayawān al-muftaris al-farīsa

A few pronunciation notes:

• ح in الحيوان is a deeper h sound than English h
• ر is rolled or tapped
• long vowels matter:
  • يُراقِب has a long ā
  • الحيوان has long ā
  • الفريسة has long ī

Yes. That is also correct.

Compare:

• يراقب الحيوان المفترس الفريسة
• الحيوان المفترس يراقب الفريسة

Both can mean the same thing: The predator watches the prey.

The first version is more naturally verb-initial, which is very common in Arabic.
The second version is subject-initial, which can sound a bit more like emphasizing the subject.

For this particular sentence, both are normal.

It can do both, depending on context.

As an adjective:

• حيوان مفترس = a predatory animal

As a noun:

• المفترس = the predator

So Arabic often uses the same form in ways that English might separate into an adjective and a noun. In your sentence, المفترس modifies الحيوان, but the whole phrase is naturally understood as the predator.