Spanish 2 Quiz: Preterite Spelling Changes
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Preterite Spelling ChangesQuestion 1 of 15

Consider the verb lanzar (to throw). A student produces the following four preterite conjugations and claims all are correct: lancé, lanzaste, lanzó, lanzamos. Which statement best evaluates this set of conjugations?

All four forms are incorrect: the -zar rule requires z→c throughout the entire preterite paradigm to maintain consistent spelling, so every form should use 'lanc-' as the stem.
The set contains one error: 'lanzaste' should be 'lancaste' because the -zar spelling rule applies to all tú forms in the preterite, not just the yo form, given that the -aste ending also begins with a vowel.
The set contains one error: 'lanzamos' should be 'lancamos' because the nosotros preterite ending -amos begins with 'a', and the -zar rule applies before all vowels, including back vowels like 'a'.
All four forms are correct: 'lancé' applies the -zar rule (z→c before é) only in yo, while 'lanzaste,' 'lanzó,' and 'lanzamos' retain the original 'z' because their endings do not begin with a front vowel requiring the change.
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Spanish 2 Quiz

Spanish 2 Quiz: Preterite Spelling Changes

Practice Preterite Spelling Changes in Spanish 2 with focused quiz questions that help you check what you know, review explanations, and build confidence with test-style prompts.

What this quiz covers

This quiz focuses on Preterite Spelling Changes, giving you a quick way to practice the rules, question types, and explanations that matter most for Spanish 2.

How to use this quiz

Try each quiz question before looking at the correct answer. Use the explanations to review missed ideas, then come back to similar questions until the pattern feels familiar.

All questions

Question 1

Consider the verb lanzar (to throw). A student produces the following four preterite conjugations and claims all are correct: lancé, lanzaste, lanzó, lanzamos. Which statement best evaluates this set of conjugations?

  1. All four forms are incorrect: the -zar rule requires z→c throughout the entire preterite paradigm to maintain consistent spelling, so every form should use 'lanc-' as the stem.
  2. The set contains one error: 'lanzaste' should be 'lancaste' because the -zar spelling rule applies to all tú forms in the preterite, not just the yo form, given that the -aste ending also begins with a vowel.
  3. The set contains one error: 'lanzamos' should be 'lancamos' because the nosotros preterite ending -amos begins with 'a', and the -zar rule applies before all vowels, including back vowels like 'a'.
  4. All four forms are correct: 'lancé' applies the -zar rule (z→c before é) only in yo, while 'lanzaste,' 'lanzó,' and 'lanzamos' retain the original 'z' because their endings do not begin with a front vowel requiring the change. (correct answer)
Explanation: When you encounter a verb ending in -zar in Spanish, the key question to ask is: why does the spelling change happen, and where exactly does it apply? The z→c change exists for one reason only: Spanish spelling rules require that the /k/ sound before the vowels e or i must be written with 'c', not 'z'. The letter 'z' before 'e' or 'i' would produce the wrong sound in standard Spanish orthography. So the change is purely phonetic-orthographic — it kicks in only when the ending begins with e or i. In the preterite of lanzar, only the yo form (lancé) triggers this rule, because its ending begins with 'é'. The other forms — lanzaste (ends in -aste), lanzó (ends in -ó), and lanzamos (ends in -amos) — all begin with vowels that are not front vowels requiring the change. The 'z' before 'a' or 'o' is perfectly acceptable in Spanish spelling. This makes D correct: all four forms are accurately conjugated. Answer A is wrong because it invents a rule that doesn't exist — the z→c change is never applied throughout an entire paradigm, only before 'e/i'. Answer B incorrectly claims that 'a' in -aste triggers the change; it doesn't, because 'a' is a back vowel, not a front vowel. Answer C makes the same error with -amos, wrongly treating 'a' as a trigger. Your study tip: memorize that -zar verbs change z→c only in the yo preterite (and present subjunctive). If you see 'a' or 'o' in the ending, leave the 'z' alone.

Question 2

A student wants to say 'I approached the counter and explained my problem' in Spanish using preterite tense. The verbs needed are acercarse (-car) and explicar (-car). Which sentence correctly applies all relevant spelling-change rules?

  1. Me acerqué al mostrador y expliqué mi problema — both -car verbs change c→qu in the yo preterite to preserve the /k/ sound before the front vowel in the -é ending. (correct answer)
  2. Me acercé al mostrador y expliqué mi problema — reflexive verbs suspend the -car spelling rule in the yo preterite, so 'acercarse' retains the 'c', while non-reflexive 'explicar' applies c→qu normally.
  3. Me acerqué al mostrador y explicé mi problema — 'acercarse' correctly applies c→qu as a reflexive -car verb, but 'explicar' keeps the 'c' because the prefix 'ex-' creates an exception to the spelling-change rule.
  4. Me acerqué al mostrador y expliqué mi problema — both verbs apply c→qu, but this is a purely orthographic convention with no phonological basis, since /k/ sounds the same before all vowels in standard Spanish.
Explanation: Whenever you see a preterite yo form of a verb ending in -car, -gar, or -zar, your first instinct should be to check for a spelling change. These changes exist for one reason: to preserve the original consonant sound of the infinitive when the -é ending introduces a front vowel. For -car verbs specifically, the hard /k/ sound would become a soft /s/ or /θ/ sound if written before the letter e. So Spanish spelling rules require c→qu to keep that /k/ intact. This applies to acercarse → me acerqué and explicar → expliqué. Both verbs share the -car ending, so both require the same c→qu change in the yo preterite — making A the correct answer. The reflexive pronoun me in acercarse is simply part of the reflexive construction and has no effect on the spelling rule. Choice B is wrong because it invents a fake rule: reflexive verbs do not suspend the -car spelling change. Acercarse is still a -car verb, so acercé is incorrect. Choice C makes up another false exception — the prefix ex- in explicar creates no such rule, so explicé is wrong. Choice D reaches the right forms but gives a completely incorrect reason. The c→qu change is absolutely phonological: without it, the /k/ sound would shift, changing pronunciation. It is not "purely orthographic." Study tip: When conjugating any -car verb in the yo preterite, just ask yourself: Does this verb end in -car? If yes, c→qu — every time, regardless of prefixes, reflexivity, or any other factor.

Question 3

A student must conjugate four verbs in the yo preterite: vencer (to defeat), cazar (to hunt), colgar (to hang), and marcar (to mark). The student claims that exactly THREE of these four verbs require a spelling change in the yo preterite. Which response correctly identifies which verbs change and which does not, with accurate forms?

  1. All four verbs require a spelling change: 'vencer' → 'vencí' is incorrect — 'vencer' (-cer verb) changes c→z in yo present but NOT in yo preterite, so only 'cacé', 'colgué', and 'marqué' involve preterite spelling changes; the student's count of three is correct but misidentifies 'vencer' as one of them.
  2. Exactly three change: 'cacé' (-zar: z→c), 'colgué' (-gar: g→gu), and 'marqué' (-car: c→qu) all require yo preterite spelling changes; 'vencer' (-cer verb) does NOT require a preterite spelling change — its yo preterite is simply 'vencí', following the regular -er preterite pattern. (correct answer)
  3. Exactly three change: 'cacé' (-zar: z→c), 'colgué' (-gar: g→gu), and 'vencí' (-cer: c→z in yo preterite) all require spelling changes; 'marcar' does NOT change because -car verbs only alter spelling in the present subjunctive, not in the preterite indicative.
  4. Only two change: 'cacé' (-zar: z→c) and 'marqué' (-car: c→qu) require yo preterite spelling changes; both 'colgar' and 'vencer' are exempt because -gar verbs only change in the present subjunctive yo form, and -cer verbs never change in any past tense.
Explanation: When conjugating verbs in the yo preterite, certain verb endings trigger spelling changes to preserve the original pronunciation of the final consonant in the infinitive stem. Specifically, -zar verbs change z→c, -gar verbs add a u (g→gu), and -car verbs change c→qu — all before the preterite ending -é. This is purely a spelling convention, not a grammatical irregularity. Answer B is correct because it accurately applies these three rules: cazar → cacé (z→c before -é), colgar → colgué (g→gu before -é), and marcar → marqué (c→qu before -é). Vencer, however, ends in -cer, not -zar/-gar/-car. Its yo preterite is simply vencí, following the regular -er preterite pattern with no spelling adjustment needed. That gives you exactly three verbs with changes, confirming the student's count — but vencer is not among them. Answer A actually agrees with B's conclusion but is poorly constructed and misleadingly frames itself as a correction, making it confusing and unreliable. Answer C incorrectly claims vencer changes c→z in the yo preterite — this is false. The c→z shift for -cer/-cir verbs occurs in the yo present indicative (e.g., venzo), not the preterite. Answer D undercounts by saying only two verbs change and wrongly exempts colgar, claiming -gar verbs only shift in the present subjunctive — but -gar verbs absolutely change in the yo preterite. A useful memory trick: the three preterite spelling-change endings are -zar, -gar, -car — think "Z-G-C" or "ZaGaC." If the verb doesn't end in one of those three, no preterite spelling change is needed.

Question 4

A language tutor gives a student this fill-in-the-blank sentence: 'Cuando llegué a la biblioteca, yo   (apagar) todas las luces del salón de estudio.'

Which form of apagar correctly completes the sentence, and which reasoning accurately explains why that specific form is required?

  1. 'apagué' — 'apagar' is a -gar verb, and the g→gu change must be applied throughout the entire preterite paradigm to maintain the hard /g/ sound, so all persons use the 'gu' cluster in their endings.
  2. 'apagé' — 'apagar' follows the regular -ar preterite pattern in yo form; the -gar spelling change only applies to verbs whose stems consist of a single syllable, not to longer stems like 'apag-'.
  3. 'apagué' — 'apagar' is a -gar verb, so the yo preterite requires g→gu before the -é ending to preserve the hard /g/ sound that would otherwise become the fricative /x/ before a front vowel. (correct answer)
  4. 'apaguí' — the -gar rule requires inserting 'u' before a front vowel, and since the yo preterite of -gar verbs ends in -í rather than -é when the verb has more than two syllables, the correct form combines 'gu' with the -í ending.
Explanation: Whenever you encounter a preterite conjugation question with a verb ending in -gar, -car, or -zar, your first instinct should be to check for a spelling change in the yo form only — these changes exist purely to preserve the original pronunciation of the verb's final consonant. Here's the core logic: apagar has a hard /g/ sound. In Spanish, the letter g before a front vowel (e or i) shifts to a fricative /x/ sound (like in gente). Since the yo preterite ending is -é — a front vowel — writing apagé would accidentally change the pronunciation. To lock in the hard /g/, Spanish inserts a silent u, giving you apagué. That's exactly what choice C explains, and it's the correct answer. Choice A gets the spelling right (apagué) but contains a critical error: it claims the g→gu change applies throughout the entire preterite paradigm. In reality, the change only affects the yo form, because every other preterite ending begins with a consonant (-aste, -ó, -amos, etc.), so there's no pronunciation problem to fix. Choice B incorrectly claims apagé is acceptable and invents a false rule — there is no restriction limiting the -gar spelling change to single-syllable stems. The rule applies universally to all -gar verbs regardless of stem length. Choice D fabricates an entirely nonexistent ending (-í for multisyllabic -gar verbs). The yo preterite of -ar verbs is always -é, never -í. Study tip: Memorize the trio -car → -qué, -gar → -gué, -zar → -cé as the "yo-only spelling change club" — they only ever affect the first-person singular preterite.

Question 5

A student writes: 'En mi clase de música, yo toqué el piano, mi compañero tocó la guitarra, y los dos tocamos las maracas al final del concierto.'

Analyze the three preterite forms of tocar used in the sentence. Which statement correctly evaluates whether each form appropriately applies or correctly omits the -car spelling-change rule?

  1. 'Toqué' correctly applies c→qu for yo; 'tocó' is correctly formed for él; 'tocamos' incorrectly omits the change — it should be 'toquemos' because the nosotros preterite carries primary stress on the ending, which triggers the spelling-change rule for -car verbs.
  2. 'Toqué' correctly applies c→qu for yo; 'tocó' incorrectly omits the change — it should be 'toquó' to maintain consistency with the yo form and preserve the /k/ sound before the preterite marker; 'tocamos' is correct for nosotros.
  3. 'Toqué' correctly applies the c→qu change for yo (before front vowel é); 'tocó' correctly omits the change for él (before back vowel ó); 'tocamos' correctly omits the change for nosotros (before back vowel a) — all three forms are accurate. (correct answer)
  4. All three forms are incorrect: 'tocar' is an irregular verb whose preterite stem is 'toc-' exclusively, so the correct yo form is 'tocé', él is 'tocó', and nosotros is 'tocamos' — only the él and nosotros forms in the sentence happen to be correct by coincidence.
Explanation: When you see a preterite question involving tocar, the key concept to activate is the -car spelling-change rule: verbs ending in -car change c → qu, but only before a front vowel (e or i) to preserve the hard /k/ sound. This change never occurs before back vowels (a, o, u). Walking through each form confirms that C is correct. Toqué applies the rule properly — the yo preterite ending -é is a front vowel, so c becomes qu to keep the /k/ sound (tocé would be pronounced with a soft /s/ in many dialects, which would be wrong). Tocó correctly leaves the c unchanged because the él/ella ending -ó is a back vowel — no spelling adjustment is needed. Likewise, tocamos keeps c because the nosotros ending -amos begins with a, another back vowel. All three forms in the original sentence are accurate. A is wrong because it claims tocamos needs a change — "toquemos" is actually the present subjunctive form, not a preterite. The nosotros preterite ending -amos begins with a, which never triggers the rule. B fabricates a form "toquó," which doesn't exist; ó is a back vowel and never requires the c → qu change. D misclassifies tocar as irregular — it's a regular -ar verb with only an orthographic (spelling) adjustment in the yo form; tocé is simply not a real form. Your study tip: memorize that the -car spelling change applies only in yo preterite (-qué) and throughout the present subjunctive — no other preterite forms are affected.

Question 6

Ayer, ¿usted   la puerta una vez?

  1. toqué
  2. tocó (correct answer)
  3. tocaba
  4. tocaste
Explanation: The subject is usted, which requires the third-person singular form. Ayer and una vez point to a single completed action, so the preterite tocó is correct. The tempting mistake is toqué, the yo form, but usted never takes the first-person ending.

Question 7

Anoche, antes de salir, yo   las luces.

  1. apagé
  2. apago
  3. apagué (correct answer)
  4. apagó
Explanation: The action happened last night (anoche), so it's preterite and the subject is yo. Apagar needs a spelling change in the yo preterite: g becomes gu before e, giving apagué. The tempting wrong answer is apagé, which drops the u and would change the sound; apagó is third person, not yo.

Question 8

Perdí las llaves, pero ayer yo   en mi mochila.

  1. busco
  2. buscé
  3. buscó
  4. busqué (correct answer)
Explanation: Ayer signals the past tense, and the subject is yo, so you need the yo form of the preterite. For buscar, the yo preterite spelling is busqué to keep the k sound. The tempting buscó is indeed past, but it belongs to él, ella, or usted, not to yo.

Question 9

Yo   a trabajar y tú llegaste tarde.

  1. empezé
  2. empiezo
  3. empezó
  4. empecé (correct answer)
Explanation: The sentence describes a completed past action, so you need the preterite yo form of empezar: empecé. In the yo preterite, the z changes to c before the e ending, and the accent falls on the final é. The tempting mistake is "empezé," but keeping the z is wrong because z must change to c before the e.

Question 10

Ayer, mis amigos y yo   el proyecto a las tres.

  1. empezamos (correct answer)
  2. empecemos
  3. empezó
  4. empezaron
Explanation: Since 'mis amigos y yo' means 'my friends and I,' the subject is nosotros. The action happened yesterday at three, so use the preterite form for nosotros: empezamos. The tempting wrong choice is empezaron, but that would match 'mis amigos' alone and leave out 'yo.'

Question 11

A student is writing a diary entry about last weekend and writes: 'El sábado yo jugé al fútbol con mis amigos y después tocé la guitarra por dos horas.'

The student's diary entry contains two preterite spelling errors (marked with asterisks). Which corrected version properly applies the -gar and -car spelling-change rules for the yo form?

  1. 'jugué' and 'toqué' — both verbs follow the same -car pattern, requiring the addition of 'u' before the preterite ending to preserve the hard consonant sound.
  2. 'jugué' and 'toqué' — 'jugar' follows the -gar pattern (g→gu before 'e') and 'tocar' follows the -car pattern (c→qu before 'e'), each preserving its original hard consonant sound before the front vowel. (correct answer)
  3. 'jugé' and 'toqué' — 'jugar' does not require a spelling change in the yo preterite because the -gar rule only applies to tú and usted forms, while 'tocar' correctly becomes 'toqué'.
  4. 'jugué' and 'tocé' — 'jugar' requires 'gu' before the preterite ending to preserve the hard /g/ sound, while 'tocar' preserves its /k/ sound by retaining the 'c' before the accent.
Explanation: When conjugating verbs in the preterite yo form, certain verbs require spelling changes — not because the verb is irregular, but because Spanish spelling rules demand that consonant sounds stay consistent before different vowels. This question tests two of the most common patterns: -gar verbs and -car verbs. Here's the core logic: the preterite yo ending is -é, and the vowel "e" is a front vowel. When a hard /g/ or hard /k/ sound appears before a front vowel, Spanish spelling requires a adjustment to preserve that sound. For -gar verbs like jugar, the "g" must become "gu" before "e" — giving you jugué. For -car verbs like tocar, the "c" must become "qu" before "e" — giving you toqué. Answer B correctly identifies both rules as distinct patterns, each preserving its own hard consonant sound, which is exactly right. Answer A is wrong because it claims both verbs follow the -car pattern — that's false. Jugar is a -gar verb, not a -car verb, and its mechanism (g→gu) differs from c→qu. Answer C is wrong because it claims jugar doesn't need a spelling change in the yo form. The -gar rule applies specifically because of the front vowel "e" in -é — this is precisely when the change is needed. Answer D is wrong because tocar does NOT retain "c" before "e." Writing tocé produces an incorrect /s/ sound (in Latin America) or /θ/ sound (in Spain) — the "c" must become "qu." A handy tip: think -gar → gu, -car → qu, always in the yo preterite. Memorize these two pairs together so you never mix them up.

Question 12

A classmate argues: 'The verb empezar must change z→c in the yo preterite form because the preterite ending starts with -é, but this same spelling change does NOT occur in the él/ella form.' Which response most accurately evaluates this claim?

  1. The claim is entirely correct: 'empezar' becomes 'empecé' in yo form due to the z→c change before 'e', and the él/ella form 'empezó' ends in -ó, which does not trigger this spelling rule. (correct answer)
  2. The claim is partially incorrect: 'empezar' does become 'empecé' in yo form, but the él/ella form also undergoes a spelling change, becoming 'empecó' to maintain the soft /s/ sound before the back vowel.
  3. The claim is entirely incorrect: the z→c change applies to all preterite forms of 'empezar' equally, so both 'empecé' and 'empecó' are correct, making the distinction the classmate draws meaningless.
  4. The claim is partially incorrect: the yo form is correctly identified as 'empecé', but the rule is triggered by stress placement on the ending, not by the following vowel, so the él/ella form would also change under heavy-stress conditions.
Explanation: When studying Spanish spelling-change verbs, the key question to ask is: which vowel immediately follows the verb stem? Spanish orthography requires that the letter combination preserves the original pronunciation of the infinitive. For empezar, the stem ends in z, which in Spanish produces a soft /s/ sound. Before the vowels e or i, the letter z must change to c — because ce/ci already represents that soft sound, while ze/zi looks foreign to standard Spanish spelling. In the preterite, the yo ending is -é, so writing empezé would violate this convention. The correct spelling becomes empecé (z→c before e). This is exactly what the classmate describes, and the reasoning is sound. The él/ella ending is -ó — a back vowel — so no spelling adjustment is needed, and the form is simply empezó. Answer A correctly captures both of these facts, making the classmate's claim entirely accurate. Answer B is wrong because empecó is not a real word — the z→c rule only applies before e or i, never before o. The back vowel o doesn't create any spelling conflict with z. Answer C is wrong because it invents the nonexistent form empecó and incorrectly claims the change affects all preterite forms equally — it only affects yo. Answer D is wrong because stress placement is irrelevant here; the rule is purely about the vowel that follows the stem, not about where the stress falls. Your study tip: memorize that z→c (and g→gu, c→qu) spelling changes in the preterite appear only in the yo form, because that's the only ending beginning with -é.

Question 13

Read the following paragraph: 'El año pasado, mi amiga y yo organizamos una fiesta sorpresa. Yo me encargué de la música y ella se encargó de la comida. Antes de que llegaran los invitados, yo saqqué las decoraciones del armario y colqué los globos en el techo.'

The paragraph contains two misspelled preterite forms marked with asterisks. Which option provides the correct forms AND accurately explains the spelling-change rule each follows?

  1. 'saqué' (c→qu before é, the -car rule) and 'colgué' (g→gu before é, the -gar rule) — each change preserves the original hard consonant sound that would otherwise be altered before a front vowel. (correct answer)
  2. 'saqué' (c→qu before é, the -car rule) and 'colqué' remains unchanged — 'colgar' is not subject to the -gar rule because its infinitive ends in -gar only in writing, not in pronunciation.
  3. 'sacé' (dropping the extra letter to simplify the cluster) and 'colgué' (g→gu before é, the -gar rule) — the -car rule requires removal of the double consonant rather than substitution with 'qu'.
  4. 'saqué' (c→qu before é) and 'colgué' (g→gu before é) — but the -car and -gar rules apply only when the infinitive stem contains a single syllable; multi-syllable stems like 'col-gar' follow a separate pattern.
Explanation: When Spanish verbs ending in -car or -gar are conjugated in the preterite, the yo form requires a spelling change — not to alter pronunciation, but to preserve it. Because the preterite yo ending is -é (a front vowel), the consonants c and g would shift sounds without intervention: c before e becomes /s/, and g before e becomes /x/ (like an "h"). To keep the original hard sounds heard in the infinitive, Spanish spelling compensates: c → qu and g → gu before the é. This is exactly what option A captures. Sacar → saqué (preserving the hard /k/ sound) and colgar → colgué (preserving the hard /g/ sound). Both corrections are right, and the explanation — that each change protects the original consonant sound before a front vowel — is accurate and complete. Option B is wrong because it claims colgar is exempt from the -gar rule, which is false. Every -gar verb, regardless of syllable count, follows the same rule in the yo preterite. Option C incorrectly corrects sacar to sacé, which isn't a real spelling adjustment — the -car rule always substitutes qu for c, never drops letters. Option D invents a nonexistent restriction: the -car/-gar rules apply universally to all verbs with those endings, not just monosyllabic stems. As a study tip, memorize the trigger: -car, -gar, -zar verbs all change spelling in the yo preterite (qué, gué, cé). Anytime you see one of those infinitive endings, check that yo form first.

Question 14

Which of the following sentences contains a preterite form that violates the expected spelling-change pattern for its verb class, while all other preterite forms in the sentence are correctly written?

  1. Ayer yo busqué mis llaves por toda la casa pero no las encontré.
  2. La semana pasada nosotros llegamos tarde a la fiesta y nos disculpamos con el anfitrión.
  3. Mi hermano cruzó la calle rápidamente y después yo crucé detrás de él sin mirar.
  4. Ella pagué la cuenta en el restaurante antes de que yo pudiera sacar mi cartera. (correct answer)
Explanation: When working with preterite spelling changes in Spanish, you need to track two things simultaneously: who is performing the action and what spelling-change rule applies to that verb's class. Verbs ending in -car, -gar, and -zar require spelling changes only in the yo form of the preterite (to preserve the original pronunciation), following these patterns: -car → -qué, -gar → -gué, -zar → -cé. Option D is the violation you're looking for. The verb pagar belongs to the -gar class, so its correct yo preterite form is pagué. However, D writes "Ella pagué," applying the yo spelling-change ending to a third-person singular subject. The correct form for ella is simply pagó — no spelling change needed. The sentence mixes the wrong person with the wrong ending, which is exactly the kind of error this question targets. Option A is correctly written: busqué is the proper yo form of buscar (-car → -qué), and encontré is a regular -er preterite. No violation here. Option B uses llegamos, the nosotros form of llegar, which does not require the spelling change (only yo does), so llegamos is correct, as is disculpamos. Option C correctly contrasts cruzó (ella/él) with crucé (yo), showing the -zar → -cé change applied precisely where it belongs. Study tip: Memorize the phrase "yo solo cambia" — these pronunciation-preserving spelling changes in the preterite happen only in the yo form. If you see one of these endings on any other subject pronoun, that's your red flag.

Question 15

Which of the following pairs correctly distinguishes a verb that DOES require a preterite yo-form spelling change from a verb that does NOT, with accurate forms provided for both?

  1. 'almorzar' requires a change → 'almorcé'; 'rezar' does NOT require a change → 'rezé' — because 'almorzar' contains a stem vowel alternation (o→ue) that triggers the -zar spelling rule, while simple -zar verbs like 'rezar' are exempt from the change.
  2. 'practicar' requires a change → 'practiqué'; 'caminar' does NOT require a change → 'caminé' — because 'practicar' ends in -car (triggering c→qu before é), while 'caminar' ends in -nar and follows the regular -ar preterite pattern with no spelling adjustment. (correct answer)
  3. 'jugar' requires a change → 'jugué'; 'llegar' does NOT require a change → 'llegé' — because 'jugar' is an irregular verb that always uses 'gu' in its stem, while 'llegar' is a regular -gar verb that follows standard endings without modification.
  4. 'tocar' requires a change → 'toqué'; 'secar' does NOT require a change → 'secé' — because 'tocar' is a high-frequency verb whose spelling change has been codified by the Real Academia Española, while lower-frequency -car verbs like 'secar' follow regular patterns.
Explanation: When conjugating preterite yo forms, certain verb endings require spelling changes to preserve the original sound of the infinitive. Specifically, verbs ending in -car change c→qu before é, verbs ending in -gar change g→gu before é, and verbs ending in -zar change z→c before é. These aren't irregular verbs — they're phonetic spelling adjustments that apply consistently to every verb sharing that ending. Answer B is correct because it accurately demonstrates the principle. Practicar ends in -car, so the yo preterite becomes practiqué (c→qu to keep the /k/ sound before é). Caminar ends in -nar, which triggers no spelling rule, so it simply follows the regular pattern: caminé. Both the forms and the reasoning are accurate. Answer A is wrong on two levels: the form rezé is incorrect — rezar ends in -zar, so it absolutely requires the change, giving you recé. The claim that "simple -zar verbs are exempt" is false. All -zar verbs make this change in the yo preterite, regardless of whether they have a stem vowel change. Answer C is a trap because llegé is incorrect — llegar ends in -gar and does require a spelling change, producing llegué. The reasoning presented is completely backwards. Answer D is fabricated reasoning. The RAE does not grant spelling-change exemptions based on frequency. Secar also ends in -car, so its yo form is sequé, not secé. Your study tip: memorize the three endings — -car, -gar, -zar — and remember they ALL change in yo preterite, no exceptions based on frequency or stem changes.