Ese dato me ayudó a comprender mejor el gráfico.

Ese means that. So ese dato means that piece of information, that fact, or that data point.

In Spanish, demonstratives help show distance:

• este = this (close to the speaker)
• ese = that (not close to the speaker, or already mentioned)
• aquel = that over there (far away)

So ese dato is natural if you are referring to a specific fact or figure already mentioned in the conversation or text.

In Spanish, dato is a singular noun meaning piece of data, fact, or data point.

• un dato = one piece of data / one fact
• los datos = the data / the figures / the information

So in this sentence, ese dato means one specific item of information that helped the speaker understand the graph better.

This is different from English, where data can often be used as a mass noun.

Me means to me.

The verb ayudar often works like this:

• algo me ayudó = something helped me
• eso te ayudó = that helped you
• el profesor nos ayudó = the teacher helped us

So:

• Ese dato = the subject, what did the helping
• me = the person affected, me
• ayudó = helped

Literally, you can think of it as:

• That piece of information helped me...

Even though English does not say to me here, Spanish uses the object pronoun naturally.

Because ayudar is commonly followed by a + infinitive when it means to help to do something.

Pattern:

• ayudar a + infinitive

Examples:

• Me ayudó a entender la lección.
• Nos ayudó a resolver el problema.
• Eso te ayudará a mejorar.

So:

• me ayudó a comprender = it helped me to understand

In everyday English, we often drop to, but in Spanish the a is normally used.

Ayudó is the preterite form of ayudar, third person singular:

• yo ayudé
• tú ayudaste
• él / ella / usted ayudó

Here it means helped in a completed past action.

So the sentence refers to a specific moment or finished situation in the past:

• That piece of information helped me understand the graph better.

If you used the imperfect instead, ayudaba, it would suggest a more ongoing, repeated, or background past action.

The accent mark shows both pronunciation and meaning.

• ayudo = I help
• ayudó = he/she/it helped

So the accent marks the stress on the last syllable:

• a-yu-DÓ

Without the accent, it would be a different verb form.

This is very common in Spanish past tense forms:

• hablo / habló
• como / comió
• trabajo / trabajó

Both comprender and entender can mean to understand.

In many contexts, they are interchangeable:

• Me ayudó a entender el gráfico.
• Me ayudó a comprender el gráfico.

Possible nuance:

• entender is often more common in everyday speech
• comprender can sound a little more formal, careful, or analytical

In a sentence about understanding a graph, comprender sounds very natural, especially in a more academic or explanatory context.

Mejor here means better, and it works as an adverb modifying comprender.

So:

• comprender mejor el gráfico = to understand the graph better

It tells you the understanding improved.

Compare:

• comprender el gráfico = to understand the graph
• comprender mejor el gráfico = to understand the graph better

It does not mean the better graph here. It is describing how the person understood it.

Spanish uses articles (el, la, los, las) more often than English.

So el gráfico means the graph/chart.

In English, we might sometimes say:

• understand graphs
• understand the graph

But in Spanish, when referring to a specific graph, the article is normally included:

• el gráfico

Without the article, gráfico by itself would usually not sound complete in this sentence.

It can mean graph, and in some contexts also chart.

The exact translation depends on context:

• line graph
• bar chart
• visual graph in a report

In educational, academic, or statistical contexts, gráfico is a very common word for this kind of visual representation of data.

So if the meaning you were shown says graph, that is perfectly natural.

Yes, but the original order is the most neutral and natural:

• Ese dato me ayudó a comprender mejor el gráfico.

Spanish word order is more flexible than English, so you may also hear variations, for example:

• Me ayudó a comprender mejor el gráfico ese dato.

But this sounds more marked or emphatic. It may be used if the speaker wants to highlight ese dato at the end.

For a learner, the original version is the best model to use.

Yes. That is completely correct and very natural.

• comprender = understand
• entender = understand

Both work here. The difference is mostly style and nuance, not grammar.

If you want a slightly more formal or analytical tone, comprender fits well. If you want a very common everyday verb, entender is excellent.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

EH-seh DA-toh meh ah-yoo-DOH ah kohm-pren-DER meh-HOR el GRA-fee-koh

A few useful points:

• ese = EH-seh
• dato = DA-to
• me = meh
• ayudó = stress on the last syllable: a-yu-DÓ
• comprender = final stress: com-pren-DER
• mejor = stress on the second syllable: me-HOR
• gráfico = stress on GRA, because of the accent mark: GRA-fi-co

In Spain, gráfico may sound slightly different depending on accent, but this guide is a good starting point.

It is neutral and perfectly natural.

It would fit well in:

• class discussion
• academic writing
• workplace conversation
• explaining data or statistics

Nothing in it is slangy or especially formal. It is just clear, standard Spanish.