sanchaekro-eseo sseuregi jipgero nagyeobeul juwossseupnida.

I picked up fallen leaves on the walking trail with the litter-picking tongs.

Breakdown of sanchaekro-eseo sseuregi jipgero nagyeobeul juwossseupnida.

• 쓰레기 집게: the litter-picking tongs
• 낙엽: the fallen leaves
• 산책로: the walking trail
• 줍다: to pick something up

Questions & Answers about sanchaekro-eseo sseuregi jipgero nagyeobeul juwossseupnida.

Why is 에서 used in 산책로에서?

에서 marks the place where an action happens.

• 산책로에서 = on / at the walking path
• Since the sentence describes the action of picking something up, 에서 is the natural particle.

Compare:

• 공원에서 운동했어요. = I exercised at the park.
• 집에서 공부했어요. = I studied at home.

A learner might expect 에, but 에 is more often used for:

• destination: 학교에 갔어요 = went to school
• existence: 책상 위에 책이 있어요 = there is a book on the desk

So here, because it is the location of an activity, 에서 is correct.

What does 로 mean in 쓰레기 집게로?

Here, 로 means with / using / by means of. It marks the tool or method used to do something.

So:

• 쓰레기 집게로 = with a trash picker / using litter tongs

This is a very common use of (으)로:

• 연필로 썼어요. = I wrote with a pencil.
• 버스로 갔어요. = I went by bus.
• 손으로 만들었어요. = I made it by hand.

In this sentence, 쓰레기 집게 is the instrument used to pick up the leaves.

Why is it 쓰레기 집게로, not 쓰레기 집게를?