Spanish 2 Quiz: Subject Verb Agreement Preterite
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Subject Verb Agreement PreteriteQuestion 1 of 9

A student writes: 'Nosotros llegamos al aeropuerto a las tres y media, pero el avión ya salió.' A classmate claims there are two preterite subject-verb agreement errors in this sentence. Which response best evaluates that claim?

'Llegamos' is an error because 'nosotros' with a completed past action requires 'llegaron' to indicate the group as separate from the speaker.
'Salió' is an error because 'el avión' is an inanimate subject and therefore requires the third-person plural 'salieron' in formal written Spanish.
The classmate is wrong; there are no agreement errors. 'Llegamos' correctly matches 'nosotros' in the preterite, and 'salió' correctly matches the singular subject 'el avión.'
'Llegamos' is an error because the nosotros preterite of -ar verbs is identical to the present tense, making the form ambiguous and therefore grammatically incorrect in written Spanish.
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Spanish 2 Quiz

Spanish 2 Quiz: Subject Verb Agreement Preterite

Practice Subject Verb Agreement Preterite 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 Subject Verb Agreement Preterite, 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

A student writes: 'Nosotros llegamos al aeropuerto a las tres y media, pero el avión ya salió.' A classmate claims there are two preterite subject-verb agreement errors in this sentence. Which response best evaluates that claim?

  1. 'Llegamos' is an error because 'nosotros' with a completed past action requires 'llegaron' to indicate the group as separate from the speaker.
  2. 'Salió' is an error because 'el avión' is an inanimate subject and therefore requires the third-person plural 'salieron' in formal written Spanish.
  3. The classmate is wrong; there are no agreement errors. 'Llegamos' correctly matches 'nosotros' in the preterite, and 'salió' correctly matches the singular subject 'el avión.' (correct answer)
  4. 'Llegamos' is an error because the nosotros preterite of -ar verbs is identical to the present tense, making the form ambiguous and therefore grammatically incorrect in written Spanish.
Explanation: When evaluating subject-verb agreement in Spanish preterite, your job is to match each verb to its subject in number (singular/plural) and person (first, second, third). Invented "rules" about animacy or ambiguity are red flags — Spanish grammar doesn't work that way. The sentence reads: Nosotros llegamos al aeropuerto a las tres y media, pero el avión ya salió. Both verbs are correctly formed. Llegamos is the first-person plural preterite of llegar, which is exactly right for nosotros — the -amos ending serves both present and preterite for -ar verbs, and that's perfectly standard, not an error. Salió is the third-person singular preterite of salir, matching the singular subject el avión perfectly. The classmate's claim is simply wrong, making C the correct answer. Choice A invents a false rule — there is no preterite form llegaron for nosotros. Llegaron is third-person plural (ellos/ellas), not first-person plural. Nosotros in the preterite always takes llegamos. Choice B fabricates a grammar rule about inanimate subjects requiring plural verbs. Spanish agreement is based on grammatical number, not animacy. El avión is singular, so salió is correct, full stop. Choice D correctly identifies that the nosotros preterite of -ar verbs looks identical to the present tense, but draws the wrong conclusion. Ambiguity in form does not make a verb grammatically incorrect — context clarifies meaning, and Spanish accepts this overlap. Study tip: When a question invents a grammar rule you've never seen in class (animacy requirements, ambiguity = error), treat it as a distractor. Stick to what you actually learned: person + number = agreement.

Question 2

Ayer fue el cumpleaños de Elena. Sus padres le   una sorpresa increíble:   a sus mejores amigos de la infancia desde otra ciudad. Cuando Elena los  , no lo podía creer.

Which set of preterite forms correctly completes the three blanks?

  1. prepararon / trajeron / vieron
  2. preparó / trajeron / vieron
  3. prepararon / trujeron / vio
  4. prepararon / trajeron / vio (correct answer)
Explanation: When tackling preterite conjugation questions with multiple blanks, work through each verb independently rather than trying to evaluate the whole sentence at once. Ask yourself: who is the subject, and is this verb regular or irregular? The first blank needs a verb for sus padres (they/ellos) — a plural subject. The verb preparar is regular, so the ellos form is prepararon. The second blank uses traer (to bring), which is famously irregular in the preterite. Its ellos form is trajeron — note the j replaces the g from the infinitive. The third blank's subject is Elena (ella/she), and ver is irregular but simple: the ella form is vio (no accent mark needed). That gives you prepararon / trajeron / vio — answer D. Now let's see where the other options go wrong. A (vieron) is the ellos form of ver, but Elena is a singular subject — one person cannot use a plural verb. B (preparó) uses the ella form of preparar, but the subject is sus padres, which is plural — singular and plural don't mix here. C contains trujeron, which is a very common spelling error students make with traer. The correct irregular stem is traje-, not trujo- — trujeron simply doesn't exist in Spanish. A useful study tip: memorize traer and decir together, since both use a j-stem in the preterite (traje-, dije-) and share the same endings. Also always double-check subject-verb agreement when a sentence switches subjects mid-passage — that's a classic trap on this exam.

Question 3

Durante el viaje, la mayoría de los turistas   fotos de los monumentos. Sin embargo, el guía les   que estaba prohibido fotografiar el interior del museo, así que muchos   sus cámaras.

Which set of preterite forms correctly completes the three blanks?

  1. tomó / dijo / guardaron
  2. tomaron / dijo / guardaron (correct answer)
  3. tomaron / dijeron / guardó
  4. tomó / dijo / guardó
Explanation: When completing sentences in Spanish, subject-verb agreement is everything — you must identify who is performing each action before choosing a verb form. Let's walk through each blank. The first subject is "la mayoría de los turistas" (the majority of the tourists). Even though mayoría is grammatically singular, it refers to a plural group (tourists), so Spanish treats it as plural in meaning — the verb should be tomaron (they took). This eliminates A and D immediately, since both use tomó, the third-person singular form. The second blank has "el guía" (the guide) as its subject — clearly singular. The correct preterite form of decir for a singular subject is dijo (he said). This confirms B and eliminates C, which incorrectly uses dijeron (they said) for a single guide. The third blank refers to "muchos" (many [tourists]), which is plural. The correct preterite form is guardaron (they put away). This rules out D, which uses guardó (singular). That gives you B) tomaron / dijo / guardaron — each verb matches its subject perfectly. As for the wrong answers: A gets the guide's verb right but mismatches the tourists' actions with singular forms. C correctly pluralizes the tourists but mistakenly makes the guide's speech plural. D uses singular forms throughout, ignoring all plural subjects. Study tip: Always underline the subject of each clause before choosing a verb form. Watch for collective nouns like mayoría and indefinite pronouns like muchos — they often signal plural agreement even when they don't look like it.

Question 4

El sábado pasado, mis amigos y yo   al centro comercial para buscar ropa nueva. Primero, yo   una chaqueta azul, pero mis amigos no   nada interesante.

Which set of preterite verb forms correctly completes the three blanks in the passage above (in order)?

  1. fuimos / encontré / encontraron (correct answer)
  2. fueron / encontré / encontraron
  3. fuimos / encontramos / encontró
  4. fuimos / encontré / encontró
Explanation: When completing a passage with multiple blanks, your first move should be to identify the subject of each clause — because in Spanish, preterite verb endings must match their subject exactly. The first clause has mis amigos y yo as the subject, which is a "we" (nosotros) construction. The nosotros preterite of ir is fuimos, not fueron (which is ellos/ellas/ustedes). This immediately eliminates choice B. The second clause shifts to yo, so you need the yo preterite of encontrar: encontré. The third clause uses mis amigos as the subject — that's a third-person plural, so you need encontraron. Putting it all together: fuimos / encontré / encontraron — that's answer A. Looking at why the others fail: B uses fueron, which incorrectly treats mis amigos y yo as a third-person plural group rather than a nosotros pair — a classic trap when "mis amigos" appears near the front of the phrase. C uses encontramos for the yo clause (nosotros form, wrong subject) and encontró for mis amigos (él/ella form, also wrong — a plural subject needs a plural verb). D gets the first two blanks right but uses encontró for mis amigos, again mistakenly applying a singular ending to a plural subject. A quick study strategy: when you see compound subjects like mis amigos y yo, always restate the subject mentally as nosotros before picking your ending. Similarly, mentally restate mis amigos as ellos to lock in the -aron/-ieron ending every time.

Question 5

Ayer, la profesora les   a los estudiantes que el examen   difícil. Los estudiantes se   nerviosos cuando escucharon la noticia.

A student fills in the blanks with 'dijeron / fue / pusieron.' Which part of this response contains a subject-verb agreement error in the preterite?

  1. Only the first blank is wrong; 'dijeron' should be 'dijo' because the subject is 'la profesora,' which is third-person singular. (correct answer)
  2. Only the third blank is wrong; 'pusieron' should be 'puso' because the subject 'los estudiantes' is third-person singular in this context.
  3. Both the first and third blanks are wrong; 'dijeron' should be 'dijo' and 'pusieron' should be 'puso' because both subjects are singular nouns.
  4. The second blank is wrong; 'fue' should be 'fueron' because it refers back to both the profesora and the examen as a compound subject.
Explanation: When filling in preterite verb forms, your first job is always to identify the grammatical subject of each clause — not the nearest noun, but the actual "who" or "what" performing the action. Look at the first blank: "la profesora les   a los estudiantes." The subject is la profesora — third-person singular. The preterite of decir for a singular subject is dijo, not dijeron (dijeron is third-person plural, used for ellos/ellas). So the student's choice of dijeron doesn't match its subject, making A correct — only the first blank contains a subject-verb agreement error. Now let's examine why the other choices miss the mark. B claims the third blank is wrong, saying pusieron should be puso because los estudiantes is singular "in this context." This is simply false — los estudiantes is unambiguously plural, so pusieron (third-person plural preterite of ponerse) is perfectly correct here. C compounds both errors from A and B, inheriting B's false claim that los estudiantes is singular. Since pusieron is actually right, C is wrong even though it correctly identifies the first blank's error. D invents a problem with the second blank, suggesting fue should be fueron due to a "compound subject." There is no compound subject — el examen alone is the subject of that clause, making fue completely appropriate. Study tip: Before choosing a verb form in the preterite, draw an arrow from the verb back to its subject and confirm singular vs. plural. Watch out for distractors that point to nearby plural nouns that aren't actually the grammatical subject.

Question 6

Ayer hubo un accidente cerca de la escuela. Dos coches   en la intersección y varios testigos   lo que pasó a la policía. Afortunadamente, nadie   herido gravemente.

Which set of preterite forms correctly fills the three blanks?

  1. chocaron / describieron / resultó (correct answer)
  2. chocó / describió / resultaron
  3. chocaron / describió / resultó
  4. chocaron / describieron / resultaron
Explanation: When filling in verb blanks like these, your first job is to identify the subject of each clause — because Spanish verbs must agree in number (singular vs. plural) with their subjects. Let's walk through each blank. The first subject is dos coches ("two cars") — that's plural, so you need the third-person plural preterite: chocaron (they collided). The second subject is varios testigos ("several witnesses") — also plural, so you need describieron (they described). The third subject is nadie ("nobody") — and here's the critical insight: nadie is always grammatically singular in Spanish, even though it refers to a group concept. So it takes the third-person singular form: resultó (resulted/turned out). That gives you chocaron / describieron / resultó, which is answer A. Answer B fails immediately because dos coches requires a plural verb — chocó is singular and doesn't match. It also assigns a singular verb to varios testigos, which is clearly plural. Answer C gets the first and third blanks right but uses describió (singular) for varios testigos, which is plural — a subject-verb agreement error. Answer D gets the first two blanks right but uses resultaron (plural) for nadie, which is singular — a common trap since "nobody" might feel plural in English. A great study tip: watch out for nadie, alguien, and todo el mundo — these words always take singular verbs in Spanish, even when they seem to imply multiple people. Memorizing this short list will save you from a frequent mistake on agreement questions.

Question 7

In a short narrative, a student writes the following sentence: 'Tanto mi hermana como yo nos dormimos tarde porque el partido de fútbol duró hasta la medianoche.' Which of the following best describes the preterite agreement in this sentence?

  1. The sentence has an error; 'duró' should be 'duraron' because 'el partido de fútbol' refers to an event with multiple players, implying a plural subject.
  2. The sentence has an error; 'tanto mi hermana como yo' requires a third-person plural verb, so 'nos dormimos' should be replaced with 'se durmieron' to reflect the compound subject properly.
  3. The sentence is correct; 'tanto… como' joining two subjects creates a plural (nosotros) agreement, and 'nos dormimos' and 'duró' both correctly match their subjects. (correct answer)
  4. The sentence has an error; 'nos dormimos' is ambiguous because the nosotros preterite is identical to the present tense, so the student should use 'dormimos' without the reflexive pronoun to clarify the preterite meaning.
Explanation: When you see a sentence using "tanto… como" with reflexive verbs in the preterite, you need to check two things: subject-verb agreement and correct reflexive pronoun usage. The construction "tanto mi hermana como yo" functions like a nosotros subject — just as "both my sister and I" in English would use "we," Spanish treats this compound subject as first-person plural. That means the correct verb form is nos dormimos (nosotros preterite of dormirse). The reflexive pronoun nos is essential here because dormirse means "to fall asleep" — a reflexive action distinct from dormir ("to sleep"). Meanwhile, "el partido de fútbol" is a singular noun, so duró correctly uses the third-person singular preterite. Answer C accurately identifies that both verbs agree properly with their respective subjects, making the sentence correct as written. Answer A reflects a common misconception: the grammatical subject is el partido (singular), not the players participating in it. Spanish verb agreement follows the grammatical subject, not the implied participants. Answer B is a critical trap — "tanto… como" with mi hermana and yo creates a nosotros (first-person plural) subject, not third-person plural (ellos). Replacing nos dormimos with se durmieron would actually introduce an error. Answer D misunderstands reflexive verbs entirely — dropping nos from dormirse changes the meaning of the verb, and the reflexive pronoun is not optional here for clarification purposes. Your study tip: memorize that "tanto A como B" agreement depends on who is included — if yo is one of the subjects, the result is always nosotros.

Question 8

La semana pasada, uno de mis compañeros de clase   un discurso brillante. Todos en el salón lo   con mucha atención, y hasta el profesor   de pie para aplaudir.

Which set of preterite forms correctly completes the three blanks?

  1. dieron / escucharon / se levantó
  2. dio / escucharon / se levantó (correct answer)
  3. dio / escucharon / se levantaron
  4. dio / escucharon / levantó
Explanation: When filling in multiple blanks with preterite verbs, your first instinct should be to match each verb to its subject — who or what is performing the action? Subject-verb agreement is the core skill being tested here. Let's work through each blank. The first subject is "uno de mis compañeros de clase" — that's one classmate, singular. The verb "dar" (to give) in the preterite for él/ella is dio, not dieron (which is the ellos form for multiple people). The second subject is "Todos en el salón" — everyone, which is a plural subject, so "escuchar" becomes escucharon. The third subject is "el profesor" — again singular, and the reflexive verb "levantarse" in the él form is se levantó. That points you directly to B: dio / escucharon / se levantó. Choice A fails immediately because dieron is plural, but only one classmate gave the speech — "uno de mis compañeros" is singular despite the longer phrase. Choice C uses se levantaron (plural) for "el profesor," but the professor is a single person, so the singular se levantó is required. Choice D writes levantó without the reflexive pronoun se, which changes the verb entirely — levantar without se means to lift something, not to stand up oneself. A useful strategy: underline the subject of each blank before choosing a verb. Don't be tricked by phrases like "uno de mis compañeros" — the grammatical subject is still uno, singular, no matter how many words follow it.

Question 9

A student is editing a peer's paragraph and finds this sentence: 'Ni Juan ni sus hermanos vinieron a la fiesta, así que nosotros nos aburrimos muchísimo.' The student marks 'vinieron' as incorrect, claiming it should be 'vino.' Which response best evaluates this claim?

  1. The claim is incorrect; 'ni… ni' constructions are ungrammatical in standard written Spanish when one subject is singular and one is plural, so the entire sentence structure should be rewritten rather than changing the verb form.
  2. The claim is correct; 'ni… ni' always requires a singular verb because it negates each subject individually, so the verb must reflect each subject separately rather than the group.
  3. The claim is correct; 'Juan' appears first in the construction and therefore governs verb agreement, requiring the singular 'vino' in all registers of written Spanish.
  4. The claim is incorrect; with 'ni… ni,' the verb typically agrees with the subject closest to it — 'sus hermanos' is plural, so 'vinieron' is the standard and widely accepted form. (correct answer)
Explanation: When you encounter a sentence using ni… ni (neither… nor), the key question to ask is: how does this construction affect verb agreement? In Spanish, ni… ni connects multiple subjects, and like o… o or ya… ya, it follows the proximity rule — the verb typically agrees with the subject closest to it. In the sentence 'Ni Juan ni sus hermanos vinieron a la fiesta,' the subject closest to the verb is sus hermanos, which is third-person plural. Therefore, vinieron is grammatically correct and standard. This confirms that D is right: the peer editor's claim is incorrect, and vinieron should stay. A is wrong because ni… ni constructions are entirely grammatical in Spanish, even when subjects differ in number. Telling a student to rewrite the sentence entirely is bad advice grounded in a false rule. B is wrong because ni… ni does not automatically force singular agreement. While it negates each subject individually in meaning, agreement still follows grammatical rules — and plural subjects near the verb pull it plural. C is wrong because word order alone does not make the first subject the verb's controller. Spanish verb agreement follows proximity to the verb, not priority of mention. If Juan appeared closest to the verb, vino might be acceptable — but sus hermanos comes last, so proximity points to plural. As a study tip, remember this pattern: with paired conjunctions like ni… ni or o… o, look at the subject immediately before the verb to determine agreement. That's your anchor.