בגלל הפקק חזרנו הביתה מאוחר, והשארנו את האוטו בחניה ליד הבית.

In Hebrew, the verb itself often shows the subject.

• חזרנו = we returned
• השארנו = we left / we left behind

The ending -נו marks we in the past tense. So Hebrew does not need a separate pronoun like אנחנו unless the speaker wants extra emphasis.

בגלל means because of or due to. It is followed by a noun phrase:

• בגלל הפקק = because of the traffic jam

It introduces the reason for what happened. In this sentence, it explains why we got home late.

Yes. פקק can mean several related things, including:

• cork / stopper
• traffic jam

In modern everyday Hebrew, הפקק in this sentence clearly means the traffic jam.

The ה- at the beginning is the definite article, meaning the:

• פקק = a traffic jam / a cork
• הפקק = the traffic jam

הביתה is a very common Hebrew form meaning homeward / to home / home.

It uses the old directional -ה ending, sometimes called the directional heh. This ending can mean to or toward a place.

So:

• חזרנו הביתה = we returned home

This is more natural than חזרנו לבית in this context.
A learner can think of הביתה as a fixed, common expression meaning home after verbs of motion.

Here מאוחר works like an adverb, meaning late, not like an adjective describing people directly.

So:

• חזרנו הביתה מאוחר = we got home late

Even though the subject is we, Hebrew often uses a masculine singular form like מאוחר in this kind of adverbial expression. It is similar to how English uses late without changing its form.

They come from different verbs:

• חזרנו comes from לחזור = to return / come back
• השארנו comes from להשאיר = to leave behind

So:

• חזרנו הביתה = we returned home
• השארנו את האוטו בחניה = we left the car in the parking space / parking area

Even though English uses left in many ways, Hebrew distinguishes between returning and leaving something somewhere with different verbs.

את marks a definite direct object.

Here, האוטו means the car, which is definite because of ה-. So Hebrew uses את:

• השארנו את האוטו = we left the car

This does not mean with here. It is just the direct object marker.

Compare:

• ראיתי ספר = I saw a book
• ראיתי את הספר = I saw the book

Yes. אוטו is a very common everyday word meaning car. It is less formal and more conversational than מכונית.

• אוטו = car
• האוטו = the car

So this sentence sounds natural spoken Hebrew.

בחניה means in a parking space, in the parking area, or sometimes in parking depending on context.

It is made of:

• ב- = in / at
• חניה = parking, parking spot, parking area

So:

• בחניה ליד הבית = in the parking space / parking area near the house

The exact English wording depends on context, but the Hebrew is very natural.

ליד means next to / ליד = beside / near.
The noun after it is usually definite if you mean a specific place.

So:

• ליד הבית = next to the house / near the house

Because the sentence refers to a specific house/home, הבית is definite.

It can feel like either one depending on context.

• הביתה earlier in the sentence clearly means home
• ליד הבית literally means next to the house

In English, the whole sentence may naturally be understood as referring to home, but the Hebrew uses house in the second part because it is talking about a physical location where the car was parked.

Hebrew word order is flexible. Starting with בגלל הפקק puts the reason first:

• בגלל הפקק חזרנו הביתה מאוחר = Because of the traffic jam, we got home late

This is completely natural. Hebrew often moves time expressions, reasons, and place expressions to the front for emphasis or flow.

The prefix ו- means and.

So:

• השארנו = we left
• והשארנו = and we left

Hebrew often attaches small connecting words directly to the next word, instead of writing them separately.

Yes. Both main verbs are in the past tense:

• חזרנו = we returned
• השארנו = we left

So the whole sentence describes completed actions in the past.

Yes, that is a very good literal understanding.

Word by word:

• חזרנו = we returned
• הביתה = home
• מאוחר = late

So the structure is very close to English here, even though הביתה has that special directional ending.