tā juéde shìjiè shàng de hěnduō chéngshì dōu hěn yǒuyìsi.

She thinks many cities in the world are very interesting.

Breakdown of tā juéde shìjiè shàng de hěnduō chéngshì dōu hěn yǒuyìsi.

• 很hěn: very
• 都dōu: all
• 她tā: she
• 觉得juéde: to think

Questions & Answers about tā juéde shìjiè shàng de hěnduō chéngshì dōu hěn yǒuyìsi.

Why do we say 世界上 instead of just 世界?

世界 by itself is just “the world” as a noun.

When Chinese wants to say “in the world / on earth / in this world”, it very often adds 上 to make a location phrase:

• 世界上 = literally “on the world”, idiomatically “in the world”

Similar patterns:

• 网上 = on the internet
• 地球上 = on the Earth
• 中国上 ❌ (unnatural) vs 中国/在中国 ✅
  (we don’t add 上 to all place words, only some, like 世界, 地球, 地上, etc.)

So in this sentence 世界上 means “in the world”, not just “the world” as an abstract noun.

What exactly is the 的 doing in 世界上的很多城市?

Here 的 turns 世界上 into an adjective‑like phrase that describes 城市:

• 世界上 = in the world
• 世界上的 = “(those) of the world / in the world’s …”
• 世界上的很多城市 = “many cities in the world”

Structure:

• 世界上 (place phrase)
• 的 (links the descriptor to a noun)
• 很多城市 (noun phrase: many cities)

So 世界上的 is like saying “of the world / in the world” modifying 城市.

Why is it 世界上的很多城市, not 很多世界上的城市?