Talk:Marcel Jeannin

Grammar review

Please pardon the length. I hate to belabor what should be a simple grammatical point, but I don't know how else to justify my revisions (1st here and 2nd here) except by being thorough.

I found the following sentence ungrammatical for its intended meaning:
"Marcel Jeannin is a Canadian actor, cartoon and video game voice actor."

Because only one "AND" was used, the only grammatical parsing of this sentence is that there are 3 nouns:
Marcel Jeannin is a Canadian <noun1>, <noun2> AND <adjective> <noun3>.

The construction above forces "cartoon" to serve as a noun. So the sentence - if it's grammatical - actually says that the man is 3 nouns: an actor, a cartoon AND a voice actor. Because of this I revised it.

For "cartoon" to serve here as an adjective that modifies "voice actor" (in the same way that "video game" is used), there are two main options:

1. Give "cartoon" its own noun to modify, making a series of 3 nouns.
Marcel is an actor, cartoon voice actor AND video game voice actor.
Marcel is an <noun1>, <adjective> <noun2> AND <adjective> <noun3>

In a series of 3 nouns, an "AND" is needed only between the second and third nouns.

2. Since <noun2> and <noun3> are the same, some may prefer to use only 2 nouns, but the "AND" (or a synonym) must always be properly placed. To help understand this, start with a base version of the sentence without adjectives.
Marcel is an actor AND voice actor. (My first revision was along this line.)
Marcel is an <noun1> AND <noun2>.

If we wish to modify "voice actor" with an adjective (or adjective phrase), we add it after the "and".
Marcel is an actor AND <adjective> voice actor.
Marcel is an actor AND cartoon voice actor.

If we wish to put 2 adjectives for "voice actor", both must come after the "and".
Marcel is an actor AND <adjective1> and <adjective2> voice actor.
Marcel is an actor AND cartoon and video game voice actor.
Marcel is an actor AS WELL AS a voice actor for cartoons and video games. (This was my 2nd attempt.)

These may be further rephrased/improved, but always sticking to the above syntax for grammatically-correct sentences. In all cases, the "AND" cannot be replaced by a comma and remain grammatical. Needless to say, an ungrammatical sentence - even if we can grasp its intended meaning despite the error - is not a substitute in this wiki for saying things grammatically. Thanks. --Mercury McKinnon (talk) 19:36, September 14, 2012 (UTC)