Je garde le ticket de stationnement dans mon portefeuille pour ne pas le perdre.

Here garder means to keep, to hold on to, or to keep with you.

So Je garde le ticket... means something like I keep the parking ticket... or I’m keeping the parking ticket...

It does not mean to watch here. Although garder can sometimes mean to look after or to guard, in this sentence it means to keep something in your possession.

Le is the definite article, so it means the ticket rather than a ticket.

French often uses the definite article when the speaker has a specific thing in mind, especially something already known from the situation. So le ticket de stationnement refers to a particular parking ticket, not just any parking ticket.

It usually means a parking ticket in the neutral sense: the ticket related to parking, such as the one you get from a machine or need to keep.

However, in English, parking ticket can also mean a fine, which can confuse learners. In French, context matters. If you clearly mean a fine, people may also say things like une contravention.

So in this sentence, because the speaker keeps it in their wallet so as not to lose it, ticket de stationnement is understood as the useful ticket/receipt, not a fine.

Dans means in or inside, so dans mon portefeuille means in my wallet.

French uses dans for something located inside another thing. Since a ticket is physically inside the wallet, dans is the natural preposition.

Because portefeuille is a masculine noun in French: le portefeuille.

So the possessive adjective must also be masculine singular:

• mon portefeuille = my wallet

If the noun were feminine singular, you would normally use ma instead.

Pour can mean for, but in sentences like this it often introduces a purpose, so it means in order to.

So:

• pour ne pas le perdre = so as not to lose it / in order not to lose it

This part explains why the speaker keeps the ticket in their wallet.

With an infinitive like perdre, French negative structure is usually:

ne pas + infinitive

So:

• ne pas perdre

When there is an object pronoun like le, it goes before the infinitive:

• ne pas le perdre

That is why pour ne pas le perdre is correct.

A helpful pattern is:

• pour ne pas manger
• pour ne pas l’oublier
• pour ne pas le perdre

The le refers back to le ticket de stationnement.

Instead of repeating the noun, French uses a direct object pronoun:

• le ticket → le

So:

• pour ne pas perdre le ticket becomes
• pour ne pas le perdre

This is very common in French and works much like it in English.

You can say pour ne pas perdre in some contexts, but it would sound more general: so as not to lose.

Here, the speaker is talking about a specific thing, the parking ticket, so French normally uses the pronoun:

• pour ne pas le perdre = so as not to lose it

Including le makes the sentence clearer and more natural.

The main clause is not negative:

• Je garde le ticket de stationnement dans mon portefeuille = I keep the parking ticket in my wallet

The negative part is only in the purpose phrase:

• pour ne pas le perdre = so as not to lose it

So the speaker does keep the ticket; they do this in order not to lose it.

Because after pour expressing purpose, French often uses the infinitive.

So:

• pour perdre = to lose
• pour ne pas perdre = not to lose
• pour ne pas le perdre = not to lose it

This structure is very common:

• Je révise pour réussir.
• Il part tôt pour éviter la circulation.
• Je garde le ticket... pour ne pas le perdre.

Yes, garde is the present tense of garder.

French present tense can correspond to both:

• I keep
• I am keeping

The exact English translation depends on context. In this sentence, it can sound habitual or current:

• I keep the parking ticket in my wallet...
• I’m keeping the parking ticket in my wallet...

Both are possible ways to understand the French present.

Yes. Afin de also means in order to, and it is a bit more formal than pour.

So these are both correct:

• pour ne pas le perdre
• afin de ne pas le perdre

In everyday speech, pour is more common and more natural.

Usually, yes. Portefeuille commonly means wallet.

Depending on context, it can also have broader meanings, such as portfolio in some formal or professional contexts. But in this sentence, because the speaker puts a ticket in it, wallet is the right meaning.

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

• Je mets le ticket dans mon portefeuille means I put the ticket in my wallet. It focuses on the action of placing it there.
• Je garde le ticket dans mon portefeuille means I keep the ticket in my wallet. It focuses on the fact that it stays there.

So garde is better if the idea is ongoing safekeeping, which fits well with pour ne pas le perdre.