I picked two cellphones these two years

Last year, when I was walking by the subway station, I saw a cellphone at the entrance. Later the owner told me she sat there for a while and forgot her phone. I gave it back to her.

Tonight, when I was walking by a tea shop, I saw a cell phone on the sofa. I gave it to the shop worker.

I wrote "I picked two cellphones these two years" but I don't think it's good. What's the natural version of expressing this?

Silverobama said:

Last year, when I was walking by the a subway station, I saw a cellphone on the ground/on a seat at the entrance so I picked it up. Later, I was chatting to someone who said the owner told me she had sat there for a while and had forgotten to take her phone/had left her phone there. I gave it back to her.

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What a coincidence that you found a phone, had no idea who it belonged to, and then happened to speak to the owner! Did this really happen?

Silverobama said:

Tonight, when I was walking by a tea shop, I saw a cell phone on the sofa inside. I went in, picked up the phone, and gave it to the shop worker.

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You need more detail in your stories. If you were simply walking by a tea shop, you couldn't have given the phone to anyone unless you went inside. You missed that part out completely.

Silverobama said:

I wrote "I picked I've found two lost cellphones these in the last two years" but I don't think it's good. What's the natural version of expressing this?

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I've made it natural. You'd need to explain that they weren't phones that you'd lost and subsequently found, but phones belonging to other people.

My apologies. I have been shortening my contexts in some of my threads recently here because I wanted to save people's time here. Then my contexts sounded illogical and incoherent. I'll try to avoid this by providing enough context in the future.

emsr2d2 said:

What a coincidence that you found a phone, had no idea who it belonged to, and then happened to speak to the owner! Did this really happen?

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It did happen. I was walking by the subway station and I saw a phone there. I picked it up. I wasn't inside the subway station but walking by outside and there's a place where people can sit down for a while even though it's not a regular resting place. I first wanted to call the police (walking the beat) but I know there wasn't any. (I live nearby) I thought the best way was to go to the station myself. I was hungry, so I ate my lunch first. While I was eating, the owner called herself on the phone and I asked what was there in her phone. (To my surprise, there were some money and her ID card. She used a sheath to cover the phone and inside the cover was her ID card and 200 yuan.)

emsr2d2 said:

You need more detail in your stories. If you were simply walking by a tea shop, you couldn't have given the phone to anyone unless you went inside. You missed that part out completely.

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Again, sorry for that. I was told not to post many sentences (in my context) on WR. I thought it was the same here.

I walked in the tea shop and I saw the phone and then I gave it back to a woman who worked there.

emsr2d2 said:

I've made it natural. You'd need to explain that they weren't phones that you'd lost and subsequently found, but phones belonging to other people.

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Much appreciated!

Silverobama said:

My apologies. I have I've been shortening my contexts in some of my threads recently here because I wanted to save people's time, here. but then my contexts sounded illogical and incoherent. I'll try to avoid this by providing enough context in the future.

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You've been shortening threads in the wrong way. Don't leave out important details. Leave out trivia. Look at how much I've shortened the text above while retaining all the information.

Silverobama said:

It did happen. I was walking by the subway station and I saw a phone there. I picked it up. I wasn't inside the subway station but walking by outside and there's a place where people can sit down for a while even though it's not a regular resting place. I first wanted to call the police (walking the beat) but I know there wasn't any. (I live nearby) I thought the best way was to go to the station myself. I was hungry, so I ate my lunch first. While I was eating, the owner called herself on the phone and I asked what was there in her phone. (To my surprise, there were some money and her ID card. She used a sheath to cover the phone and inside the cover was her ID card and 200 yuan.)

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OK, now we have the full story. What you need to do is find a happy medium between the context above (too detailed) and the context you gave in post #1 (not detailed enough). Here's how I would paraphrase what you've written in the quote box above:
Last year, I found a phone in a case near some seats outside a subway station. Before I could go and hand it in at the police station, a woman called the phone and said it was hers. To confirm it was hers, I asked her what else was in the case. She correctly said that there was 200 yuan and an ID card, so we arranged to meet so I could give it back to her.

Silverobama said:

Again, sorry for that. I was told not to post many sentences (in my context) on WR. I thought it was the same here.

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This isn't WR. However, you can certainly give too much context. See the paragraph above again as an example of how to write brief context.

Silverobama said:

I walked into the tea shop, and I saw the phone and then I gave it back to a woman who worked there.

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In the first post, you said you saw the phone as you walked past the tea shop. In this version, you went into the shop and then saw the phone. Which is it? Note that you didn't give it back to the person who worked there. That would entail her having had the phone before you.

I'm so grateful for your corrections and suggestions, emsr2d2. I'll write down the italic sentences for future reference.

emsr2d2 said:

In the first post, you said you saw the phone as you walked past the tea shop. In this version, you went into the shop and then saw the phone. Which is it? Note that you didn't give it back to the person who worked there. That would entail her having had the phone before you.

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I think it's the same. The shop has two entrances. I walked into the tea shop from its main entrance and then I walked by the interior of it and left at entrance B. I am a bit stuck here. The shops interconnect; I can go from one to another.

If I say I walk by a tea shop, I mean I don't enter the shop. But since it has two entrances, I walked from entrance A and left at entrance B, I still can say "I walked by it".

I don't know how to express the intended meaning here. Please enlighten me.

Silverobama said:

The shop has two entrances. I walked into the tea shop from its main entrance and then I walked by the interior of it and left at entrance B. I am a bit stuck here. The shops interconnect; I can go from one to another.

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I'm stuck too. If it has two doors, fine. However, don't call them both entrances because, of course, they're also exits! I don't understand how you "walk by" the interior. When you spotted the phone, you were either inside the tea shop or you weren't.

Silverobama said:

If I say I walk by a tea shop, I mean I don't enter the shop. But since it has two entrances, I walked from entrance A and left at entrance B, I still can say "I walked by it".

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Do you mean that initially you were outside the shop by door A and then you walked within the mall to door B, without entering the shop?

Silverobama said:

I don't know how to express the intended meaning here. Please enlighten me.

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It would have been so much simpler if you'd just entered the shop by door A in the first place!

My friend did me a favor by taking this photo just now. I was a bit busy today and I've just finished tutoring a student. As you can see, the door is very clear from this angle. When you look through the glass door, you can see there's actually another entrance (I use entrance because there isn't a door there) over there and inside the shop there are many places for customers. I walked from one side to the other, I used "walking by", and I saw a phone when I was walking through the place.

I'm still confused! I understand the concept of an establishment having two entrances, the one the photo was taken in front of and another one on the other side. However, I'm not sure you understand the difference between "walking by" and "walking through" somewhere. They're not the same. In the first, you don't enter. In the second, you have entered.
It doesn't matter that there isn't a physical door at the other entrance.

Let's go back to the original scenario. Initially, you were walking by (walking past) this shop. At some point, you entered the shop (it doesn't matter which entrance you used) and then you noticed a phone on a sofa. (I assume the sofa you're talking about isn't visible in the photo because I can't see one - I can see only chairs.) Is that right?

emsr2d2 said:

I'm still confused! I understand the concept of an establishment having two entrances, the one the photo was taken in front of and another one on the other side. However, I'm not sure you understand the difference between "walking by" and "walking through" somewhere. They're not the same. In the first, you don't enter. In the second, you have entered.
It doesn't matter that there isn't a physical door at the other entrance.

Let's go back to the original scenario. Initially, you were walking by (walking past) this shop. At some point, you entered the shop (it doesn't matter which entrance you used) and then you noticed a phone on a sofa. (I assume the sofa you're talking about isn't visible in the photo because I can't see one - I can see only chairs.) Is that right?

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Yeah, that's right. The sofas are next to the wall.

I think "walk by" means withount entering a place when walking while "walk through" mean ones walk into the place. I used both because I really didn't know which one was correct. But I think "walk through" is better here because the door (with doorknobs) is to where I live and the other side of the shop is connected the mall.

Again, I appreciate your detail explanation.

Silverobama said:

I think "walk by" means withount without entering a place when walking while "walk through" mean ones one walks into the place and out again.

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If you walk through a shop, you go in one side and out the other.

Silverobama said:

I used both because I really didn't know which one was correct.

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This doesn't make sense. You know whether you entered the shop or you didn't. Given that you appear to know the difference between the two, how could you not decide which one to use?
Is part of the problem the fact that, initially, you were walking past the tea shop with no intention of entering, but when you saw the phone through the window, you changed your mind and went in?

Silverobama said:

But I think "walk through" is better here because the door (with doorknobs) is to where I live and the other side of the shop is connected the mall.

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The position of the door relative to your house/the mall is completely irrelevant.

Silverobama said:

Again, I appreciate your detailed explanation.

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"Detail" is a noun and a verb. "Detailed" is the adjective.

Note that I've moved this thread out of Ask A Teacher. It was getting too long and involved, and we seem to be the only two participants!