Le vi aserrando un árbol.

English Translation

I saw him sawing a tree.

Can I take it that plain “serrar” would fit equally well?

Probably, but I expect that, given seseo is used in most Spanish dialects, “aserrar” is more likely to be used, even though the context would make “cerrar” quite unlikely.

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Good point! As an incorrigible practitioner of ceceo, it didn’t occur to me.

Ceceo or distinción?

It didn’t occur to me that to most speakers of Spanish, cerrar and serrar are indistinguishable.