"I am Tom Cruise fan" or "I am a fan of Sylvester Stalone"

[tufguy]

I was told that we say "I am Tom Cruise fan" or "I am a fan of Sylvester Stalone" not "Tom Cruise's fan" or "Sylvester Stalone's" because there is no friendship and we don't know each other.

Considering this do we say "He is a Tom Cruise fan" or "There are a lot of Sylvester Stalone fans out there"? It shouldn't be "Tom Cruise's or Sylvester Stalone's". Am I correct?

 

[Annabel Lee]

I was told that we say "I am Tom Cruise fan"

That example needs an article before the name:

I am a Tom Cruise fan.

If you use the possessive, however, the article must be dropped:

I am Tom Cruise's fan.

Though grammatical, that sentence is awkward because it suggests that he has one fan rather than thousands or millions.

I am Tom Cruise's biggest fan.
I am one of Tom Cruise's fans.
I am one of Tom Cruise's biggest fans.

Those sentences imply, of course, that Tom Cruise has many fans, as indeed he does.

I am a fan of Tom Cruise.
I am a fan of Tom Cruise's.

I find the first sentence more natural than the second. It's the precise opposite of how the sentences would seem with friend instead of fan; I am a friend of Tom Cruise seems very strange, whereas I am a friend of Tom Cruise's is perfectly natural. Also, interestingly, I am a Tom Cruise friend is hideously unnatural, if not ungrammatical. The difference surely lies in the semantics of fan versus that of friend, though I hesitate to try to characterize what that difference is precisely. I think about this issue just about every year and never get anywhere with it -- anywhere past the point we've arrived at, that is.

 

[Skrej]

"I am a fan of Sylvester Stalone"

or "Sylvester Stalone's"

"There are a lot of Sylvester Stalone fans out there"?

It shouldn't be "Tom Cruise's or Sylvester Stalone's"

One might think that a true Stallone fan would know how to spell the actor's last name correctly.

 

[tufguy]

That example needs an article before the name:

I am a Tom Cruise fan.

If you use the possessive, however, the article must be dropped:

I am Tom Cruise's fan.

Though grammatical, that sentence is awkward because it suggests that he has one fan rather than thousands or millions.

I am Tom Cruise's biggest fan.
I am one of Tom Cruise's fans.
I am one of Tom Cruise's biggest fans.

Those sentences imply, of course, that Tom Cruise has many fans, as indeed he does.

I am a fan of Tom Cruise.
I am a fan of Tom Cruise's.

I find the first sentence more natural than the second. It's the precise opposite of how the sentences would seem with friend instead of fan; I am a friend of Tom Cruise seems very strange, whereas I am a friend of Tom Cruise's is perfectly natural. Also, interestingly, I am a Tom Cruise friend is hideously unnatural, if not ungrammatical. The difference surely lies in the semantics of fan versus that of friend, though I hesitate to try to characterize what that difference is precisely. I think about this issue just about every year and never get anywhere with it -- anywhere past the point we've arrived at, that is.

Okay so "'s" is always needed even if we arectalking about fans.

 

[tufguy]

One might think that a true Stallone fan would know how to spell the actor's last name correctly.

Sorry.

 

[Annabel Lee]

Okay so "'s" is always needed even if we arectalking about fans.

It is not needed, or even desirable, in the of-construction:

a fan of Tom Cruise

 

[güey]

I'm Tom Cruise's fan.

 

[Tarheel]

I would say:

Tom Cruise and I are friends.

Well, I would say that, but I won't, because we've never met or talked to each other.

 

[Skrej]

Being a friend and being a fan are two very different things. One does not imply the other.

 

[Annabel Lee]

I would say:

Tom Cruise and I are friends.

I would say:

Tufguy is a fan of tough guys, or of two stars who play them.