Avatar director James or Avatar's director James

[teemo72]

Which one is correct?

1. Avatar director James Cameron has won numerous awards.

2. Avatar's director James Cameron has won numerous awards.

 

[GoesStation]

They're both correct. Context would determine which to use.

 

[Rover_KE]

The film title should be italicised or in quotes.

 

[Yankee]

In the brief context provided, #1 would be used more frequently.

 

[teemo72]

They're both correct. Context would determine which to use.

Could you give an example of when it is more appropriate to use #1 than #2?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Which one is correct?

1. Avatar director James Cameron has won numerous awards.

Italics, please!

2. Avatar's director, James Cameron, has won numerous awards.

Since there was just one director, you need commas. You're not specifying which director.

That's that.

 

[GoesStation]

That's that.

I somehow overlooked the missing commas in number 2.

 

[teemo72]

That's that.

I am getting more confused now. Still don't understand why #1 and #2 are both correct. Now, #2 needs commas. Why?

 

[jutfrank]

Sentence 1 is wholly about James Cameron. The phrase Avatar director says something about the work that Mr Cameron has done.

Sentence 2 is a sentence that is partly about the film Avatar. It tells us who directed it and that the director has won some awards. It could possibly be used as part of a paragraph about the film.

Given the way the sentence ends by talking about Mr Cameron's awards, I'm going to assume that what you actually mean is that which is expressed by sentence 1—that is, that you're simply trying to write a single sentence that gives information about James Cameron.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I am getting more confused now. Still don't understand why #1 and #2 are both correct. Now, #2 needs commas. Why?

They were not correct as you presented them. We've corrected them for you.

We've explained why you need the commas in #6 and #9. Here's another way to look at it:

Avatar's director James Cameron has won numerous awards: This answers the question Which director has won awards? The answer is Cameron.

But you're not trying to tell us which Avatar director won all those awards. Why not? Because it only had one director.

So his name is not needed. It's what's called a dependent clause. The sentence would be correct without it: Avatar's director has won numerous awards.

We use commas to show that a clause is dependent, like James Cameron. How can you tell if the clause is dependent? Because the sentence is still true without it. Example:

- She was born on March 6, 1970, in Paris, France, on a Tuesday.

- She was born on March 6 in Paris.​

They don't contradict each other. One just provides more information.

Now look at these two sentences:

- They stole the pie on the counter. How many pies were there? We don't know. Which one was stolen? The one on the counter.​

- They stole the pie, on the counter. How many pies were there? One. Where was it? On the counter.​

Those are like the James Cameron sentence. The commas make clear that there were only one pie and one director.

Does it make sense now?

 

[Tarheel]

Teemo, I suggest that you save that post (#10) in some fashion. You will want to be able to refer to it from time to time.

 

[jutfrank]

We've explained why you need the commas in #6 and #9.

The commas are not necessary if the phrase James Cameron is an appositive.

Avatar's director James Cameron has won numerous awards: This answers the question Which director has won awards?

I don't think it does.

It's what's called a dependent clause.

It's not dependent and it's not a clause, so it can't be a dependent clause.

We use commas to show that a clause is dependent, like James Cameron. How can you tell if the clause is dependent? Because the sentence is still true without it.

I think you're talking about 'parentheticals', not dependent clauses.

- She was born on March 6, 1970, in Paris, France, on a Tuesday. She was born on March 6 in Paris.

I wouldn't call 1970 there a parenthetical.

They stole the pie on the counter. How many pies were there? We don't know. Which one was stolen? The one on the counter. They stole the pie, on the counter. How many pies were there? One. Where was it? On the counter.

Those are like the James Cameron sentence.

Hmm. I don't think they are.