Mi madre me ayudó a abrochar la blusa porque yo tenía prisa.

Me means me: Mi madre me ayudó = My mother helped me.

In Spanish, object pronouns like me, te, lo/la, nos usually go before a conjugated verb, so me ayudó is the normal order.

This is a very common Spanish pattern: ayudar a + infinitive.

So:

• me ayudó a abrochar = she helped me fasten/button
• literally, she helped me to fasten

English often leaves out to after help, but Spanish commonly uses a here.

This is the classic preterite vs imperfect contrast.

• ayudó is preterite: a completed action in the past
• tenía is imperfect: an ongoing background situation

So the idea is:

• My mother helped me = one completed event
• I was in a hurry = the ongoing reason/background

That is why the sentence mixes the two tenses.

Spanish often drops subject pronouns, so tenía prisa would already mean I was in a hurry.

Adding yo gives a bit more emphasis or clarity. It can sound like:

• because I was in a hurry
• or even because I was the one in a hurry

So yo is not required, but it is perfectly natural.

Tener prisa is an idiomatic expression meaning to be in a hurry.

It literally looks like to have hurry, but that is not how we translate it in natural English.

This is similar to other Spanish expressions with tener:

• tener hambre = to be hungry
• tener sed = to be thirsty
• tener miedo = to be afraid

Spanish often uses the definite article (el, la, los, las) with clothing and personal items when the owner is already obvious from context.

So la blusa can naturally mean the blouse or, in context, my blouse.

If you wanted to be more explicit, you could say mi blusa, but Spanish very often prefers la blusa in this kind of sentence.

Yes. In fact, many speakers would find abrocharme la blusa very natural if the blouse is the speaker’s own blouse.

• abrochar la blusa = to fasten/button the blouse
• abrocharme la blusa = to fasten/button my blouse on myself

The version with -me makes the personal connection more explicit. The original sentence is still understandable and natural, but abrocharme la blusa is also a very common way to say it.

Abrochar means to fasten, to do up, or to button up, depending on context.

With la blusa, English often translates it as button up the blouse, but abrochar is a bit broader than just buttons. It can refer to fastening clothes in general.

Because here it means because, which is the conjunction porque.

Compare:

• porque = because
• por qué = why

So in this sentence, porque yo tenía prisa means because I was in a hurry, not why I was in a hurry.

Yes, Spanish word order is fairly flexible.

For example, you could also say:

• Porque yo tenía prisa, mi madre me ayudó a abrochar la blusa.

That means the same thing, just with the reason placed first.

You could also drop yo:

• Mi madre me ayudó a abrochar la blusa porque tenía prisa.

That is probably the most neutral version.

They are important.

• ayudó with an accent means he/she helped
• ayudo without an accent means I help

So the accent changes the form and meaning.

In tenía, the accent shows the correct stress and helps mark the imperfect form:

• tenía = I was having / he or she was having
• in this sentence: I was in a hurry

So the accents are not optional; they are part of the correct spelling.

Not exactly.

• blusa usually means blouse
• camisa usually means shirt

So la blusa is a specifically feminine garment in most contexts, which is why blouse is the right translation here.