Ieri mama a măturat balconul, pentru că era mult nisip acolo.

A măturat is the perfect compus, one of the main past tenses in Romanian.

It is built with:

• the auxiliary a = has
• the past participle măturat = swept

So mama a măturat literally looks like mother has swept, but in normal English it is usually translated as Mom swept.

This tense is commonly used for completed actions in the past.

Mama is the definite form, meaning the mother or more naturally Mom.

• mamă = a mother / mother as a basic dictionary form
• mama = the mother / mom

In Romanian, family words are often used with the definite article when talking about a specific family member, so mama very naturally means my mom / mom, especially when the context is clear.

Because Romanian often leaves out the possessive with close family members when it is obvious.

So:

• mama can mean mom / my mom
• tata can mean dad / my dad

Adding mea is possible, but it is often unnecessary:

• mama = natural, simple
• mama mea = more explicit, sometimes more emphatic

In this sentence, mama is perfectly natural.

Because balconul is the definite form: the balcony.

Romanian usually attaches the definite article to the end of the noun:

• balcon = a balcony
• balconul = the balcony

Since the sentence talks about a specific balcony, Romanian uses the definite form.

Because Romanian puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word.

So English:

• the balcony

Romanian:

• balconul

That ending -ul is the equivalent of the here.

Era is the imperfect, and it is used here to describe a background situation or ongoing state in the past: there was a lot of sand there.

Romanian often uses:

• perfect compus for the main completed event: a măturat
• imperfect for the surrounding situation or reason: era mult nisip

So the contrast is:

• a măturat = completed action
• era = background condition

This is very natural in Romanian:

• Ieri mama a măturat balconul, pentru că era mult nisip acolo.

If you used a fost, it would sound more like a finished fact rather than the background situation that explains why she swept.

Because nisip is an uncountable noun, like sand in English.

With uncountable singular nouns, Romanian uses mult:

• mult nisip = a lot of sand

Compare:

• mult nisip = a lot of sand
• mulți oameni = many people
• multe cărți = many books

So:

• mult is used with singular mass nouns
• mulți / multe are used with plural countable nouns

Because the sentence means a lot of sand, not the sand.

Here nisip is indefinite and uncountable, so Romanian simply says:

• mult nisip

If you made it definite, you would be talking about specific sand already identified in the context, which is not the point here.

Because pentru că introduces a subordinate clause of cause, and in Romanian that is normally separated by a comma.

So the sentence is divided into:

• main clause: Ieri mama a măturat balconul
• reason clause: pentru că era mult nisip acolo

That comma is standard and natural in Romanian writing.

Yes. Romanian word order is fairly flexible, although some orders sound more natural than others.

The given sentence:

• Ieri mama a măturat balconul, pentru că era mult nisip acolo.

is a very normal neutral order.

You could also move some parts for emphasis, for example:

• Mama a măturat balconul ieri...
• Acolo era mult nisip...

But the original version is the most straightforward way to say it.

Putting ieri at the beginning sets the time right away: Yesterday...

This is very common in Romanian. It helps frame the whole sentence from the start.

But it could also appear elsewhere:

• Mama a măturat balconul ieri.

Both are correct. The version with ieri first feels slightly more like setting the scene.

Acolo means there, and it reinforces the location where the sand was.

So:

• era mult nisip acolo = there was a lot of sand there

Even though balconul has already been mentioned, adding acolo sounds natural in Romanian and helps tie the reason clearly to that place.

English can also do this:

• Mom swept the balcony because there was a lot of sand there.

So it is not redundant in a bad way; it is just natural phrasing.

The letter ă is a very common Romanian vowel. It is a short central sound, similar to the a in English sofa for many speakers.

So măturat is roughly:

• muh-too-RAT

with the stress on the last syllable: -rat

And că in pentru că has the same ă sound.

It is not exactly the same as any one English vowel, but thinking of a short neutral uh sound is a good start.