miti ni otite ita tebukuro wo hirotte, kouban ni motte ikimasita.

In 道に落ちていた, the particle に marks the place where something ended up or existed after falling.

• 落ちる means to fall
• something falls to / ends up on the road, so に fits naturally

So:

• 道に落ちていた = was lying on the road / had fallen onto the road

If you used で, it would sound more like the road is the place where an action happens. But 落ちる is not really an action you intentionally do in a location; it is a change that results in a new location, so に is more natural.

落ちていた is made from:

• 落ちる = to fall
• 落ちている = has fallen and is in that state / is lying there
• 落ちていた = the past form of that, so was lying there / had fallen and was there

In this sentence, 落ちていた手袋 means:

• the glove(s) that had fallen and were lying there

This is a very common Japanese pattern:
verb + noun = the noun that ...

So:

• 道に落ちていた手袋 = the glove(s) that were lying on the road

Both are possible, but they emphasize slightly different things.

• 落ちた手袋 = the glove(s) that fell
• 落ちていた手袋 = the glove(s) that had fallen and were lying there

The 〜ている / 〜ていた form often shows a continuing state. So 落ちていた makes it feel like the speaker noticed the glove while it was already on the road.

That nuance fits this situation very well, because the next action is 拾って—the speaker picked it up after seeing it there.

Because Japanese does not need a relative pronoun like that, which, or who.

English says:

• the gloves that were lying on the road

Japanese just puts the description directly before the noun:

• 道に落ちていた手袋

So Japanese relative clauses work like this:

• [description] + noun

Examples:

• 昨日買った本 = the book (that) I bought yesterday
• そこで待っている人 = the person (who is) waiting there

を marks the direct object of the verb.

Here, the direct object is 手袋, because that is the thing the speaker picked up:

• 手袋を拾って = picked up the glove(s)

So the sentence structure is basically:

• [the glove(s) lying on the road]
  • を
    • picked up

The て-form is used to connect actions.

Here:

• 拾って、交番に持っていきました
• picked it up, and took it to the police box

So 拾って links the first action to the second action.

A more literal breakdown is:

• 拾って = having picked it up / pick it up and...
• 持っていきました = took it

This is a very common Japanese way to say and then without using a separate word like and.

Yes, but then the sentence would need a different structure.

For example:

• 道に落ちていた手袋を拾いました。そして、交番に持っていきました。

That means:

• I picked up the glove(s) that were lying on the road. Then I took them to the police box.

Using 拾って is smoother and more natural when the two actions are part of one sequence.

交番 is a police box or small neighborhood police post in Japan.

It is not exactly the same as a full police station.

• 交番 = small local police post
• 警察署 = police station

In this sentence, taking lost property to a 交番 is very natural in Japan.

Both に and へ can mark direction or destination here.

• 交番に持っていきました
• 交番へ持っていきました

Both can mean took it to the police box.

The difference is small:

• に often feels like marking the exact destination
• へ often emphasizes direction toward that destination

In everyday speech, に is very common here.

This is about direction relative to the speaker or viewpoint.

• 持っていく = to take something away / to carry something to another place
• 持ってくる = to bring something here / toward the speaker or reference point

In this sentence, the speaker took the glove(s) to the police box, so 持っていきました is the natural choice.

If the speaker were talking from the point of view of the police box or bringing it to where the listener is, 持ってきました might be used instead.

The sentence is telling a completed event in the past.

• found the glove(s)
• picked them up
• took them to the police box

So the last main verb is in the past polite form:

• 持っていきました = took (it/them)

The earlier いた in 落ちていた is also past, but it is inside the description of 手袋. The main sentence tense is shown at the end, as is usual in Japanese.

It can be either, depending on context.

Japanese nouns usually do not change form for singular vs plural. So 手袋 can mean:

• a glove
• gloves
• sometimes a pair of gloves

In English, the best translation depends on the situation. If you imagine one lost glove, a glove is fine. If you imagine a pair, gloves is also fine.

The subject is omitted, which is very common in Japanese.

The sentence does not explicitly say I, but from context it is naturally understood as something like:

• I picked up the glove(s) that were lying on the road and took them to the police box.

Japanese often leaves out subjects and objects when they are obvious from context.

The comma mainly helps readability and shows a pause.

• 拾って、交番に持っていきました

It separates the two connected actions:

1. picked it up
2. took it to the police box

The sentence would still be understandable without the comma, but the comma makes it easier to read.

It breaks down like this:

• 道に = on the road
• 落ちていた = had fallen / was lying there
• 手袋を = the glove(s) as the object
• 拾って = picked up, and...
• 交番に = to the police box
• 持っていきました = took

So the full structure is:

• [道に落ちていた 手袋] を [拾って]、[交番に] [持っていきました]

Or in natural English:

• I picked up the glove(s) that were lying on the road and took them to the police box.