sanchaekro-eseo sseuregi jipgero nagyeobeul juwossseupnida.

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.

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.

Because 쓰레기 집게 is not the thing being picked up. It is the tool used for the action.

• 낙엽을 = the thing being picked up
• 쓰레기 집게로 = the tool used to pick it up

If you said 쓰레기 집게를, that would mark the picker itself as the object. That would sound like you picked up the trash picker, not that you used it.

So the roles are:

• 낙엽을 → direct object
• 쓰레기 집게로 → instrument

산책로 means a walking path, trail, or path made for strolling.

It is made of:

• 산책 = walk, stroll
• 로 = road/path

So literally it is something like a path for walking.

It sounds a bit more specific than just 길 (road/path) because it suggests a path intended for walking, often in a park, riverside area, apartment complex, or scenic area.

낙엽 means fallen leaves or dead leaves that have dropped from trees, especially in autumn.

Comparison:

• 잎 = leaf
• 나뭇잎 = tree leaf
• 낙엽 = fallen leaf / fallen leaves

So 낙엽 is more specific. It does not just mean any leaf still attached to a tree. It refers to leaves that have already fallen.

In this sentence, that makes sense because something is being picked up from the ground.

을/를 marks the direct object of the verb.

The verb here is 줍다 = to pick up, so the thing being picked up gets 을/를.

• 낙엽을 주웠습니다 = picked up the fallen leaves

Because 낙엽 ends in a consonant, it takes 을.

Quick rule:

• consonant ending → 을
• vowel ending → 를

Examples:

• 책을 읽었어요.
• 물을 마셨어요.
• 사과를 먹었어요.

주웠습니다 is the correct past formal-polite form of 줍다 (to pick up).

This verb is a ㅂ-irregular verb. When verbs like this are conjugated before a vowel, the ㅂ changes in a special way.

For 줍다:

1. dictionary form: 줍다
2. stem: 줍-
3. with a vowel-starting ending, the ㅂ changes
4. the result becomes 주워요
5. past tense: 주웠어요
6. formal-polite past: 주웠습니다

So:

• 줍다 → 주워요 → 주웠습니다

This is why 줍었습니다 is not the natural standard form.

주웠습니다 is in the formal polite style, often called the 습니다 style.

It is commonly used in:

• speeches
• announcements
• presentations
• written reports
• polite narration
• textbook example sentences

Less formal versions would be:

• 주웠어요 = polite casual
• 주웠어 = casual/informal

So this sentence sounds neat, polite, and somewhat formal.

Because Korean often omits the subject when it is already understood from context.

So even though English usually needs something like I, we, or someone, Korean often leaves it out if it is obvious.

This sentence could mean:

• I picked up fallen leaves...
• We picked up fallen leaves...
• Someone picked up fallen leaves...

The exact subject would depend on the surrounding context.

This is very normal in Korean and one of the most common things English speakers notice.

The basic Korean order is usually:

time/place + object + verb

or more generally:

subject + place/time + object + verb

In this sentence:

• 산책로에서 = place
• 쓰레기 집게로 = instrument
• 낙엽을 = object
• 주웠습니다 = verb

So the verb comes at the end, which is one of the most important features of Korean sentence structure.

You can sometimes move parts around for emphasis, but the particles show each word’s role:

• 산책로에서 낙엽을 쓰레기 집게로 주웠습니다.
• 낙엽을 산책로에서 쓰레기 집게로 주웠습니다.

These are possible, though some orders sound more natural than others depending on context. The original sentence is straightforward and natural.

Usually 쓰레기 집게 refers to a grabber/tong-like tool used to pick up litter or things from the ground without using your hands.

Even though the literal parts are:

• 쓰레기 = trash
• 집게 = tongs/picker/clamp

it can still be used to pick up things other than actual trash, such as leaves. The name describes the tool’s typical purpose, not a strict limit on what it can pick up.

So in this sentence, it sounds perfectly natural to use 쓰레기 집게 to pick up 낙엽.