there be句式中的there什么时候可省略■湖南 刘青沅有位网友在本站“答疑中心”提问如下（问题见www.yygrammar.com/guestbook/Guest_Reply.asp?TopicID=1457）：How many students are there in the classroom? 为何不可以是 How many students are in the classroom?What is in the box? 为何不可以是 What is there in the box?两个句子都对there be句型提问，为何前者要保留there，后者不是？谢谢！现特请本站特约作者刘青沅老师答复如下：这是个很有趣的问题。我对此的理解是：通常说：How many students are there in the classroom? 也可以说：How many students are in the classroom?（不如上句用得多）通常说：What is in the box? 也可以说：What is there in the box?（不如上句用得多）你可能不相信我的解释，下面我给出几个词典上的例句加以说明：――关于how many…are there…句式中省略there 的例句：How many letters are in your name? 你的名字有多少个字母？――摘自《美国传统英汉双解学习词典》How many tracks are on the CD？这张激光唱片上有多少首乐曲？――摘自《牛津英语搭配词典》How many stones are in your diamond ring? 你的钻戒上有几颗钻石？――摘自《当代美国英语学习词典》――关于What is there…句式中保留 there 的例句：What is there to laugh at? 有什么值得笑的? ――摘自《张道真英语语法》What is there in the way of tools? 有什么工具吗？――摘自《麦克米伦高阶美语词典》
