Jag såg övervakningskameran och dess inspelning.

Because Swedish usually writes compound nouns as one word, where English often uses two or more words.

So:

• övervakning = surveillance / monitoring
• kamera = camera
• övervakningskamera = surveillance camera
• övervakningskameran = the surveillance camera

This is very normal in Swedish. English speakers often want to split these up, but Swedish generally does not.

That -s- is a linking s used in many Swedish compounds.

Here, the compound is built from:

• övervakning = surveillance
• kamera = camera

But instead of övervakningkamera, Swedish uses övervakningskamera.

The -s- does not have a separate meaning by itself here. It just helps form the compound in the standard way. Swedish has many words like this.

The ending -an marks the noun as definite singular: the surveillance camera.

The base noun is:

• en övervakningskamera = a surveillance camera

Definite form:

• övervakningskameran = the surveillance camera

In Swedish, the definite article is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.

Because in Swedish, a simple definite noun usually takes the definite ending on the noun itself.

So:

• kameran = the camera

not normally:

• den kameran in this kind of neutral statement

You do use den/det/de together with the definite ending when there is an adjective:

• den svarta kameran = the black camera

But with just the noun, the ending alone is enough:

• övervakningskameran = the surveillance camera

Såg is the past tense of se (to see).

So:

• se = to see
• ser = see / sees
• såg = saw
• sett = seen

In this sentence, Jag såg ... means I saw ...

Dess means its (or sometimes his/her, but that is much less common in modern usage).

In this sentence, dess refers back to övervakningskameran, so:

• dess inspelning = its recording

It is a possessive form, like English its.

This is a very common question.

Sin/sitt/sina is a reflexive possessive, used when the possessor is the subject of the clause.

Here, the subject is:

• Jag = I

So sin would refer back to jag, not to övervakningskameran.

That means:

• Jag såg övervakningskameran och dess inspelning = I saw the surveillance camera and its recording
• Jag såg övervakningskameran och sin inspelning would sound like I saw the surveillance camera and my own recording, which is not the intended meaning

So dess is correct because the owner is the camera, not I.

After a possessive like min, din, hans, hennes, dess, vår, and so on, Swedish normally uses the noun in the indefinite form.

So:

• min bok = my book
• hennes bil = her car
• dess inspelning = its recording

Not:

• min boken
• dess inspelningen

Even though the meaning is definite in English, Swedish uses the indefinite noun form after a possessive.

The base form is en inspelning, which means a recording.

Forms:

• en inspelning = a recording
• inspelningen = the recording
• dess inspelning = its recording

So in the sentence, it stays in the base/indefinite form because it follows the possessive dess.

It is correct, but it can sound a bit formal or written, especially when referring to things.

In careful written Swedish, dess is perfectly fine. In everyday speech, people may sometimes rephrase instead of using dess.

For example, someone might say something like:

• Jag såg övervakningskameran och inspelningen från den.

But your original sentence is grammatically correct and quite natural in written Swedish.

The sentence follows normal Swedish main-clause word order:

• Jag = subject
• såg = verb
• övervakningskameran och dess inspelning = object

So the pattern is:

• Subject + verb + object

That is very similar to English here:

• I saw the surveillance camera and its recording.

Yes, in this sentence the natural interpretation is that dess refers to övervakningskameran.

So the meaning is:

• I saw the surveillance camera and the recording belonging to that camera.

Grammatically, that connection is clear and normal.