Quote Originally Posted by Selexin
In their replies about the question "where are there any books?"
Sperk worte:
I can't think of a situation in which that question would arise, in fact it doesn't make any sense.
Paulb wrote:
[quote:2gfrt1qj]English speakers use expressions like that.
I'm getting even more puzzled. The opinions split among natives...
Well, consider the situation:
A: "We need to change the bulb in the sconce"
B: "I can't reach it, it hangs too high"
A: "Use books or something to stand on"
B: "Where are there any books?"
What do you think?[/quote:2gfrt1qj]

Lots of things we say in conversation sound very strange if you take away the context. Many times when I see a transcript of a conversation it is hard for me to believe people would talk like that.

I don't know how it is in Russian, but written English and spoken English are VERY different. This is just one example.