Verb - sentence correction

Question

Hi All,
Please let me know what are the wrongs in this sentence.
Thanks in advance.

The proliferation of computer games designed to involve many players at once were first
developed before the widespread availability of high-speed internet connections.

KyleWiddison · Answer

In order to see the errors here you need to focus on the core of the sentence. Look for the main subject and verb by pulling out the modifying elements.

The proliferation  of computer games designed to involve many players at once  were  first 
developed  before the widespread availability of high-speed internet connections .

The core is: The proliferation were developed.

Clearly there is a subject/verb agreement issue here because proliferation is singular and were is plural. There also seems to be a meaning issue because of the use of the passive voice, which make more sense with computer games that it does with the proliferation.

Two potential fixes for the verb issues in the sentence:
The proliferation of computer games designed to involve many players at once  were  first
developed before the widespread availability of high-speed internet connections.

The proliferation of  Computer games designed to involve many players at once were first
developed before the widespread availability of high-speed internet connections.

KW

PrijitDebnath · Answer

Hello KyleWiddison, is the above sentence correct or are you suggesting that this is an incorrect sentence. This was not clear in your post.

I feel this is not correct.

KyleWiddison · Answer

Yes, your original sentence was incorrect for subject/verb agreement and meaning issues.

KW

KyleWiddison · Answer

Maybe you could clarify for me. Did you not understand it before and now you do understand, or do you still not understand my explanation, or is there something else going on?

KW

infinitemac · Answer

I was going through the SC guide and had a question about this particular sentence.;

The correct answer is "Computer games designed to involve many players at once were first developed before the widespread availability of high speed internet connections."

When I attempted this question on my own first, my thought was to remove  first  because "first developed before" seemed redundant, i.e. first and before technically mean the same thing, that one is coming before the other...this wasn't the case in the final correct answer, but I'm wondering why my reasoning would be wrong.

VerbalBot · Answer

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Verb - sentence correction

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