to start (in the) next spring/sufficient practice(s)/before he realized that he had been deceived...
1.
"By the time the World Games starts in the next spring, our team will have had sufficient practices and preparation."
→Is this sentence? First, I think "in the" before "next spring" is wrongly used, and it should be deleted. Second, the word practice is actually an uncountable noun, but it takes a plural form here. Is it correct?

2.
a. "The investor had lost millions of dollars before he realized that he had been deceived by his fund manager."
b. "The investor had lost millions of dollars before he realized that he was deceived by his fund manager."
→Which sentence is correct? Which is more common?

Thanks!

Question

to start (in the) next spring/sufficient practice(s)/before he realized that he had been deceived...
1.
"By the time the World Games starts in the next spring, our team will have had sufficient practices and preparation."
→Is this sentence? First, I think "in the" before "next spring" is wrongly used, and it should be deleted. Second, the word practice is actually an uncountable noun, but it takes a plural form here. Is it correct?

2.
a. "The investor had lost millions of dollars before he realized that he had been deceived by his fund manager."
b. "The investor had lost millions of dollars before he realized that he was deceived by his fund manager."
→Which sentence is correct? Which is more common?

Thanks!

Answer

First of all, yes, 1. is a sentence. Also, you're correct that "in the" can be deleted before next Spring, and that would make the sentence sound more natural. Thirdly, I would agree that "practices" would more likely be just "practice" and uncountable like you said. However, if the speaker is talking about the actual practice meetings (in the sense that you would say "We have three practices between now and the competition") it could possibly be correct.

For the second part, I'm actually not sure, but the first one sounds much more natural to me. By saying "he had been deceived" it indicates that the deception took place in the past (which would be appropriate because the first verb is in the pluperfect tense) and also that it happened at a certain point. The second sentence with "was" sort of suggests that the deception is a state of being, which doesn't make sense to me in this case.

I hope that helps you.