Je surveille le chat dans le jardin.

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Breakdown of Je surveille le chat dans le jardin.

• le chat: the cat
• dans: in
• le jardin: the garden

Questions & Answers about Je surveille le chat dans le jardin.

Why is it je surveille and not something like je regarde or je vois?

French has several common verbs that all translate roughly as to watch / to see / to look at, but they’re not interchangeable:

• surveiller = to watch over / to keep an eye on / to monitor (there is an idea of attention and responsibility)
• regarder = to look at / to watch (more neutral)
• voir = to see (more passive, just perceiving with your eyes)

So Je surveille le chat suggests you are actively keeping an eye on the cat, maybe to make sure it doesn’t run away or cause trouble.
If you just want to say you’re watching it in a neutral way, you’d more likely say Je regarde le chat.

Can je surveille mean I am watching as well as I watch?

Yes. French present tense covers both:

• Je surveille le chat.
  = I watch the cat. (habitual)
  = I am watching the cat. (right now)

Context decides which one is meant.
If you really want to insist on “right now”, you can say Je suis en train de surveiller le chat, but that’s usually only when you need to stress the ongoing action.

Why do we have le chat and not just chat like in English “I’m watching cat”?