kare ha kuruma wo mihatta.

When は is used as the topic particle, it is pronounced wa, even though the character itself is normally read ha in other words.

So in this sentence:

• 彼は = kare wa

This is one of the first irregular readings learners meet in Japanese. The spelling stays は, but the pronunciation is wa when it marks the topic.

は marks 彼 as the topic of the sentence.

That means the sentence is presenting him as the person being talked about. A natural way to think about it is:

• As for him, ...
• He, ...

So 彼は車を見張った is structured like:

• 彼は = as for him
• 車を = the car
• 見張った = watched/guarded/kept an eye on

English usually just says he, but Japanese often organizes sentences by topic + comment.

を marks the direct object of the verb.

Here, the verb is 見張った, so 車を tells you that the car is what was being watched or guarded.

Compare:

• 車を見た = saw the car
• 車を見張った = watched/guarded the car

So を is doing the job that English often shows through word order alone.

The dictionary form is 見張る.

So:

• dictionary form: 見張る
• past plain form: 見張った

This verb means something like:

• to watch
• to keep watch over
• to guard
• to keep an eye on

It usually implies more deliberate watching than simply seeing something.

Because 見張る is a godan verb, not an ichidan verb.

Many learners see a verb ending in る and expect it to behave like an ichidan verb, but 見張る is not one of those. Its past plain form follows the godan pattern:

• 見張る → 見張った

This is the same pattern as:

• 帰る → 帰った
• 座る → 座った
• 取る → 取った

So the る changes to った in the plain past.

This is an important nuance.

• 見る means to see, to look at, or to watch in a general sense.
• 見張る means to keep watch on, to stand guard over, or to watch carefully for a purpose.

So 見張る suggests active monitoring, often to prevent something or catch something.

For example:

• テレビを見る = watch TV
• ドアを見張る = keep watch on the door
• 車を見張る = watch/guard the car

So this sentence is not just saying he looked at the car. It suggests he was watching it attentively.

Not always.

While 彼 does mean he or boyfriend depending on context, Japanese often omits pronouns when they are understood. So in natural conversation, people frequently would not say 彼 unless they needed to clarify who they meant.

That means a sentence like this is grammatically fine, but depending on context, Japanese might more naturally say just:

• 車を見張った。

if it is already clear who did it.

So learners should know:

• 彼 is correct
• but Japanese often uses fewer pronouns than English

Yes, but it would change the nuance.

• 彼は車を見張った。 = As for him, he watched the car.
• 彼が車を見張った。 = He is the one who watched the car.

Very roughly:

• は introduces the topic
• が highlights or identifies the subject more directly

If you are simply talking about what he did, は is very natural. If you are answering a question like Who watched the car?, then が may be more natural.

The basic order is:

• topic + object + verb

So:

• 彼は = topic
• 車を = object
• 見張った = verb

Japanese verbs normally come at the end of the sentence.

In English, we say:

• He watched the car.

In Japanese, it is more like:

• He / the car / watched.

That verb-final structure is one of the main differences from English.

見張った is the plain past form.

That means it is used in:

• casual speech
• narration
• diary style
• plain written style
• conversation with friends or family, depending on context

The polite version would be:

• 見張りました

So the full polite sentence would be:

• 彼は車を見張りました。

It is read:

• かれ は くるま を みはった
• kare wa kuruma o mihatta

A few useful notes:

• を is usually pronounced o
• 見張った is mihatta
• the small pause before た comes from the doubled consonant sound in った

Yes. Depending on context, 見張った can be translated in several ways, such as:

• watched the car
• kept an eye on the car
• stood guard over the car
• guarded the car

The best English translation depends on the situation. If someone was protecting the car from theft or monitoring it carefully, guarded or kept watch over may fit better than just watched.

Yes, very often.

Japanese commonly omits information that is clear from context.

For example:

• 彼は見張った。 = As for him, he watched/guarded it.
• 車を見張った。 = (Someone) watched/guarded the car.
• 見張った。 = (Someone) watched/guarded (something).

In English, leaving these out often sounds incomplete. In Japanese, it is normal if the listener already knows the missing information.