Sessizlik saatlerinden önce çöp torbalarını topladık.

A natural breakdown is:

• Sessizlik saatlerinden önce = before quiet hours
• çöp torbalarını = the trash bags
• topladık = we collected

So the Turkish word order is literally closer to:

• Before quiet hours the trash bags we-collected

That sounds unusual in English, but it is normal in Turkish.

Because Turkish often leaves the subject pronoun out when the verb already shows who is doing the action.

Here, topladık already means we collected:

• topla- = collect / gather
• -dı- = past tense
• -k = we

So biz is not necessary, though you could add it for emphasis:

• Biz çöp torbalarını topladık. = We collected the trash bags.

Topladık comes from toplamak, which commonly means:

• to collect
• to gather
• sometimes to pick up

In this sentence, topladık is:

• simple past
• first person plural

So it means we collected or we gathered.

Because Turkish is very often subject-object-verb and strongly prefers the verb near the end of the sentence.

So this pattern is very normal:

• time expression
• object
• verb

Here:

• Sessizlik saatlerinden önce = time expression
• çöp torbalarını = object
• topladık = verb

English usually puts the verb earlier, but Turkish often saves it for the end.

With önce meaning before, Turkish normally uses the ablative ending on the noun before it:

• X-den önce = before X

So:

• sessizlik saatlerinden önce = before quiet hours

Even though -den often means from, you do not translate it literally as from here. It is just the form Turkish uses with önce.

A useful comparison:

• dersten önce = before class
• yemekten önce = before the meal
• sessizlik saatlerinden önce = before quiet hours

Because sessizlik saatleri is a Turkish noun compound.

It is built like this:

• sessizlik = silence / quietness
• saatleri = its hours / hours-of

Together, sessizlik saatleri means quiet hours or more literally hours of silence.

This is a very common Turkish pattern. The second noun often takes a special ending that looks like a possessive ending, even when no actual owner is meant.

So this is not really the hours of the silence in normal English logic. It is simply the standard Turkish way to form a compound noun.

Because Turkish often uses a noun in this type of expression, not an adjective.

• sessiz = quiet, silent
• sessizlik = silence, quietness

So sessizlik saatleri is literally something like silence hours or hours of quietness, which is the normal Turkish expression for quiet hours.

An English speaker may expect something more like quiet hours, but Turkish structures it differently.

Because it is the direct object, and here it is specific/definite.

In Turkish, a specific direct object usually takes the accusative ending.

Base form:

• çöp torbaları = trash bags

Accusative form:

• çöp torbalarını = the trash bags

So the ending helps show that we mean a particular set of trash bags, not just trash bags in general.

This is one way Turkish often expresses something like English the, since Turkish does not have a separate word exactly like the.

Good question — it can look ambiguous.

That is because çöp torbaları is also a noun compound, and that compound already ends in a form that resembles a possessive ending. Then the accusative is added:

• çöp torbaları
  • -nı → çöp torbalarını

In this sentence, the meaning is simply the trash bags.

In another context, a very similar form could mean his/her trash bags in the accusative, but here the intended meaning is clear from context and from the fact that çöp torbası / çöp torbaları is a normal compound meaning trash bag(s).

Yes. Both are examples of a very common Turkish structure often called an indefinite noun compound.

Examples:

• çöp torbası = trash bag
• okul kapısı = school door
• yaz tatili = summer vacation
• sessizlik saatleri = quiet hours

In this pattern:

• the first noun describes the second noun
• the second noun takes a special ending

So instead of building these ideas exactly the way English does, Turkish often creates a noun compound.

Yes, Turkish word order is flexible, but changing it usually changes the focus or emphasis, not the basic meaning.

The sentence as given is neutral and natural:

• Sessizlik saatlerinden önce çöp torbalarını topladık.

You could also say something like:

• Çöp torbalarını sessizlik saatlerinden önce topladık.

This still means the same thing, but now the trash bags are brought forward a little more in the listener’s attention.

Even with flexible word order, the version with the verb at the end is usually the safest and most standard pattern for learners.