sseuregi jipgero dambaekkongchowa peteubyeongeul juwossseupnida.

Here, -로 marks the tool or means used to do something. So 쓰레기 집게로 means with litter tongs / using trash pickers.

In Korean, -로 often has several meanings, but one very common use is:

• 연필로 쓰다 = write with a pencil
• 버스로 가다 = go by bus
• 가위로 자르다 = cut with scissors

So in this sentence, it tells you how the person picked the items up.

Because the two nouns are joined together as one object phrase:

• 담배꽁초와 페트병 = cigarette butts and PET bottles

Then -을 is attached to the whole combined phrase:

• 담배꽁초와 페트병을 주웠습니다

This is very normal in Korean. The object marker applies to both nouns together.

You could think of it like:

• [cigarette butts and PET bottles] + object marker

If you marked both separately, it would usually sound unnatural here.

와 means and. It connects nouns.

• 와 is used after a noun that ends in a vowel
• 과 is used after a noun that ends in a consonant

So:

• 담배꽁초와
• 책과

Other common ways to say and between nouns are:

• 하고
• (이)랑 — more casual

So this sentence could also be said with 하고, but 와/과 is a standard written-style connector.

담배꽁초 means a cigarette butt — the leftover end of a smoked cigarette.

It is a very common word in cleanup, litter, and no-smoking contexts.

For example:

• 담배꽁초를 버리지 마세요. = Don’t throw away cigarette butts.
• 길에 담배꽁초가 많아요. = There are a lot of cigarette butts on the street.

페트병 refers to a PET bottle, meaning the kind of plastic bottle used for drinks.

It comes from the material name PET + 병 (bottle).

In everyday Korean, 페트병 is a very common word, especially in recycling and trash-sorting contexts. So even though English speakers might naturally think plastic bottle, Korean often specifically says 페트병.

Related words:

• 병 = bottle
• 유리병 = glass bottle
• 플라스틱 = plastic

The dictionary form is 줍다, which means to pick up.

In this sentence:

• 줍다 → 주웠습니다

This is:

• past tense
• formal polite style

So 주웠습니다 means picked up in a formal, polite way.

This form can look a little tricky because of the vowel contraction, but it is the normal past form of 줍다.

A useful comparison:

• 줍습니다 = pick up / will pick up
• 주웠습니다 = picked up

Yes, although they can overlap in English.

• 줍다 = to pick up something that is on the ground or has been dropped
• 집다 = to pick up, grasp, pinch, or take hold of something

In this sentence, 줍다 is the natural choice because the person is picking up litter from the ground.

For example:

• 동전을 주웠어요. = I picked up a coin.
• 젓가락으로 김치를 집었어요. = I picked up kimchi with chopsticks.

So 줍다 fits cleanup or litter-picking situations especially well.

-습니다 is the formal polite speech style.

It is commonly used in:

• public speaking
• presentations
• news
• reports
• polite writing
• official or respectful situations

So 주웠습니다 sounds more formal than:

• 주웠어요 = polite, everyday
• 주웠어 = casual

All three can mean the same thing, but the level of formality changes.

Korean often leaves out the subject when it is already understood from context.

So even though English usually wants something like I or we, Korean does not always need it.

This sentence could imply:

• I picked up...
• We picked up...
• Someone picked up...

depending on the situation.

That is very normal in Korean. If the speaker wanted to include the subject, they could say:

• 제가 쓰레기 집게로 담배꽁초와 페트병을 주웠습니다.

But leaving it out is completely natural.

쓰레기 집게 means trash tongs, litter tongs, or litter pickers — the tool used to grab trash without touching it by hand.

It is made of:

• 쓰레기 = trash, garbage
• 집게 = tongs, pincers, clip-like grabbing tool

So literally it is something like trash-grabbing tongs.

Yes, depending on context, but picked up is the most direct match for 주웠습니다.

• picked up emphasizes the physical action of lifting litter from the ground
• collected can sound a little broader or more result-focused

If this is about a cleanup activity, both may work in English, but picked up is usually the closest translation of the Korean verb here.

Because Korean normally puts the verb at the end of the sentence.

This sentence follows a very common Korean order:

• tool
  • object
    • verb

So:

• 쓰레기 집게로 = with litter tongs
• 담배꽁초와 페트병을 = cigarette butts and PET bottles
• 주웠습니다 = picked up

English and Korean word order are different, so this final-position verb is something learners need to get used to.

Yes, it sounds natural and clear.

It would fit especially well in contexts like:

• describing a cleanup activity
• reporting volunteer work
• writing a diary entry
• giving a presentation about environmental action

It is a straightforward, practical sentence using very common grammar:

• tool marker: -로
• noun connector: 와
• object marker: -을
• past formal polite verb: 주웠습니다