"咖啡在桌子上。"

Translation: The coffee is on the table.

[SophieKraj]

do you think they should accept "The coffee is on top of the table"?

[roman2095]

No, I think "on" is the usual expression in this context for most English speakers. "on top of" is normally only used instead of "on" when there is another possible position that the first object can have in relation to the second and the "top of" provides clarification e.g. You can be on the mountain but not on top of it, or on the bus but not on top of it. However with the coffee's position in relation to a table the only normal position is "on" it, so it is not necessary to say "on top of", and most people will not say that as there is no other valid position the coffee can take, so further clarification is not required.

Of course "on top of" is not actually wrong, and those who think that that is what they would normally say in this context could try reporting it.

[JustinDay13]

They may be strict because on top would be 上面 instead of just 上.

[Lucasferre241656]

Could you say "there is corfe on the table"

[MicahLiuba1]

Covfefe?

[alanxoc3]

I think that is a fine translation, but on second thought that sentence is more passive English. So they probably would want a more passive Chinese translation.

[grippygecko]

桌子上有咖啡。

That would be "there is coffee on the table". In this exercise we are talking about the coffee and where it is. We are not talking about the tabletop and what's on it.

[talk2dream]

need to allow: The coffee's on the table

[Spoomn]

Would this be meaning that someone spilled the coffee on the table, or is it safe to assume the coffee is safe in a cup?

[grippygecko]

The sentence is just as ambiguous in the English or the Chinese.

[Oscar760571]

I put "the" twice by accident. Obvious grammatical errors should be accepted