Word order

[Pedro Vizioli]

hey guys,

just a quick question, speaking of word order, in the sentence "there's not enough tea in this world" there correct order would be:

没有足够的茶在这个世界 (there's not enough tea in this world) like in english

or

在这个世界没有足够的茶 (in this world there's not enough tea)?

I was reading an article about word order, that in chinese you put the "topic" first, so that kinda confused me

[jbradfor]

I would say neither. The topic is not "the world", but rather "the tea in the world".

[YuehanHao]

My perspective, perhaps of dubious value, is that within a certain tolerance band, word order transitions from a matter of correctness to a matter of style and emphasis. Although it may be natural to begin some sentences with the topic (as distinct from the subject), it is not a requirement.

So in this case, perhaps one could say something like 在世界上的茶不足够. But other options exist, and they may even be considered preferable. For example, similar to a suggestion above, 全世界没有足够的茶. Ultimately, I lack the skill to attempt to state what an elegant or optimal translation might be...

[tooironic]

Two things.

One, your original sentence does not make much sense to me, even in English. What do you mean "there's not enough tea in this world"? Is it an idiom or proverb? I'm not familiar with it.

Two, if you were to translate it literally, forgetting for a moment how strange it would sound, I imagine a more Chinese-sounding sentence would be 这个世界没有足够的茶。 You don't need to translate "in", since 没有 already acts as the verb.

However, if it were an idiom, a literal translation wouldn't be adequate.

[Iriya]

The sentence should start simply with 世界上. Since it's at the beginning of the sentence, you don't need 在. Compare:

路上有很多人。

BUT 我在路上遇到了她。

Anyway, I too don't really understand what you're trying to say.

[David Wong]

It's one of those sayings that usually goes "There's not enough <X> in the <Y> for <Z (to happen)>".

For example, "there's not enough alcohol in the world to make me want to spend another Christmas with my mother-in-law".

[Pedro Vizioli]

the meaning would be like "there's not enough tea in this wolrds (there might enough in other worlds but not in this one)"

it's the name of my website and I was trying to translate it. (it's a website made for tea addicts)