La prueba práctica ayuda al comité de selección.

Because in Spanish, singular countable nouns usually need an article when you are talking about a specific thing or about the idea of that thing in a general statement.

So la prueba práctica is natural Spanish for the practical test or sometimes a practical test, depending on context.

Leaving out la would sound incomplete in normal Spanish.

In Spanish, adjectives often come after the noun.

So:

• prueba práctica = practical test
• literally, something like test practical

That is the normal word order here. Also, prueba práctica is a very common combination in Spanish for a test that checks practical skills.

Here, práctica is an adjective meaning practical.

It agrees with prueba, which is feminine singular:

• prueba → feminine singular
• práctica → feminine singular form of práctico

So the phrase means practical test, not practice test in the English sense of a test you do for training. If you wanted practice test, that would usually be expressed differently depending on context.

Because ayuda is the conjugated verb, while ayudar is the infinitive.

Here the subject is la prueba práctica, which is third person singular, so the verb must also be third person singular:

• ayudar = to help
• ayuda = helps

So La prueba práctica ayuda al comité de selección means The practical test helps the selection committee.

Yes, ayuda can also be a noun meaning help or aid.

But in this sentence it is clearly a verb because of its position after the subject:

• La prueba práctica ayuda... = The practical test helps...

If it were a noun, the structure would be different, usually with an article or another determiner, such as la ayuda.

Because al is the mandatory contraction of a + el.

So:

• a + el = al

That is why you get:

• ayuda al comité

not

• ayuda a el comité

A useful rule: whenever a is followed directly by the masculine singular article el, they normally contract to al.

Because ayudar normally goes with a before the person, group, or entity receiving the help.

So Spanish says:

• ayudar a alguien
• ayudar al comité
• ayudar a los estudiantes

Even though English says simply help someone, Spanish usually uses a before the receiver of the help.

Because noun + de + noun is a very common Spanish structure.

So:

• comité de selección = literally committee of selection
• natural English: selection committee

Spanish often uses de where English uses a noun in front of another noun. This is completely normal.

A form like comité seleccionador is possible in some contexts, but comité de selección is the most standard and transparent expression here.

Because grammatical gender in Spanish is not determined only by the final letter.

Many masculine nouns do not end in -o, and many feminine nouns do not end in -a. Comité is simply a masculine noun, so it takes:

• el comité
• al comité

This is something you often just have to learn with the noun.

They show where the stress falls.

• práctica → stress on the first syllable: PRAC-ti-ca
• comité → stress on the last syllable: co-mi-TÉ
• selección → stress on the last syllable: se-lec-CIÓN

The accent marks are not optional. They are part of the correct spelling.

Not very naturally.

A very literal breakdown is:

• La = the
• prueba práctica = practical test
• ayuda = helps
• al = to the
• comité de selección = selection committee

But natural English would normally be:

• The practical test helps the selection committee.

So it is better to understand the structure rather than translate each word too mechanically.

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

The standard pattern is:

• subject + verb + complement
• La prueba práctica ayuda al comité de selección.

You could change the order for emphasis in some contexts, but for a learner, the original sentence is the best model to follow.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

la PRAC-ti-ca AYU-da al co-mi-TE de se-lec-CIÓN

A few key points:

• h in ayuda is silent
• y in ayuda sounds roughly like the y in yes for many speakers
• ción sounds like thyón in much of Spain and like syón in Latin America
• the stressed syllables are PRAC, YU, TÉ, and CIÓN

In Spain, a common pronunciation would be close to:

la PRÁK-ti-ka a-YU-da al ko-mi-TÉ de se-lek-THYÓN