Murakami Haruki is known by almost every Japanese people.

[hirashin]

Dear native English speakers、
Would both be used?
(a) Murakami Haruki is known to almost every Japanese (people).
(b) Murakami Haruki is known by almost every Japanese (people).

Is "people" needed?

Thanks in advance.

Hirashin

 

[Majestic]

Not needed, and in fact it clashes with "every", which is a modifier for the singular "person".
It should be either
1. all (people)
2. every (person)
You can avoid the problem altogether by leaving off people/person from the sentence.

 

[diligentcircle]

In fact, there is a (rather uncommon) version of "people" which is singular, and that is what would be interpreted in those sentences. It means something totally different. The singular word, "people" (plural: "peoples"), means, as Merriam-Webster puts it: "a body of persons that are united by a common culture, tradition, or sense of kinship, that typically have common language, institutions, and beliefs, and that often constitute a politically organized group". So you could say that e.g. Okinawans are a Japanese people, Michiganders are an American people, and the Cherokees are an American Indian people.

I don't know why, but I tend to prefer "Japanese person" over the noun form "Japanese". Both are correct, though.

 

[hirashin]

Thank you for the help, Majestic and Julimaruchan.

Is "every Japanese person" more common than "every Japanese"?

 

[diligentcircle]

I hear it that way more often, but it might just be a cultural thing.

 

[hirashin]

Thanks, Julimaruchan.