New2grammar  +  525290 Tue, 10 Jun 08 08:28 AM Derek voiced concern about the future survival of various species of sharks, which are being captured and de-finned for shark fin soup, considered a rare delicacy in Asia and in the United States. "It's very difficult to know how many there are left in the world," Derek said. "Some studies show that in the past 20 years, they're down 90 percent. They reproduce very slowly. I think that unless people just stop eating the (shark fin) soup, I don't think the species has a chance." Is there optional or incorrect to have? Thanks   New2grammar Joined on Tue, Nov 21 2006 Veteran Member 7,676 Who wants to go sailing around the world with me?

	optilang  +  525334 Tue, 10 Jun 08 11:25 AM I'm not sure what your question is. It's very difficult to know how many there are left in the world," or It's very difficult to know how many are left in the world," optilang Joined on Tue, May 13 2008 Poland Senior Member 2,521 OptiNative British English Speaker Wherever I may roam, I'm still a Londoner.

	New2grammar  +  525339 Tue, 10 Jun 08 11:37 AM Optilang, I wanted to know whether 'there' is mandatory. How should I rephrase my question to make it clear?   New2grammar

	optilang  +  525345 Tue, 10 Jun 08 12:38 PM  Is there optional or incorrect to have?   Is (the use of) 'there' optional?  optilang

	optilang  +  525369 Tue, 10 Jun 08 01:35 PM Thanks, Optilang. And your answer is Optional, right?   For me, yes  optilang

	Grammar Geek  +  525524 Tue, 10 Jun 08 07:59 PM Opti, when you're cutting and pasting, could you either use a differen color or actually use the quote feature? It can be confusing for people (well, for me at least) to know where the qutoed material ends and the new response begins. Thanks! Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,659 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	optilang  +  525526 Tue, 10 Jun 08 08:03 PM  Point taken GG - I know I'm getting better slowly at using this - please bear with me - I'm trying to make improvements. Apologies for any problems  caused. optilang

	Grammar Geek  +  525543 Tue, 10 Jun 08 09:01 PM For reasons that aren't clear to me, sometimes I have to click on the Quote button twice to get it to work. But you can select the text you've copied and make it blue, for example, to show that it's the other person's text. I also noticed (although I don't know if this works all the time) that if you hit tab and put a - and then paste in the text, it appears in a quote box. Weird, but I was able to get it repeat. Grammar Geek