Surveillent

Surveillent is the third-person plural present tense form of the French verb surveiller, meaning to monitor or watch over. The same spelling also appears in the third-person plural present subjunctive, as in qu'ils surveillent, when the clause requires the subjunctive mood. In ordinary usage, this form translates as “they monitor” in statements and as part of subordinate clauses that express doubt, necessity, or possibility.

Conjugation overview: surveiller belongs to the first conjugation group. Present tense forms include je surveille, tu surveilles, il surveille, nous surveillons, vous surveillez, ils surveillent. The past participle is surveillé, used to form compound tenses such as j’ai surveillé.

Usage and meaning: surveiller is a transitive verb and typically takes a direct object or a phrase indicating what is being watched or controlled (for example, surveiller un chantier, surveiller les données, surveiller quelqu’un). It is commonly employed in contexts such as security, quality control, operations monitoring, and health or safety surveillance. The related noun surveillance denotes the act or system of monitoring, while surveillant refers to a supervisor or monitor.

Etymology: surveiller derives from sur- (over) + veiller (to watch or stay awake), reflecting the sense of watching over something or someone.

Examples: Ils surveillent le trafic en temps réel. Il faut qu’ils surveillent les chiffres pour assurer la sécurité des opérations.

See also: surveillance, surveillant, surveiller (the verb).