Preposition cause problems?

[Michauek]

I have always had problem with the use of prepositions.
e.g.
He congratulated me on passing the exams.
Put it on the table.
In the corner. At the corner etc.

I suppose there is no general rule for that, so it causes so many problems. I try to remeber it from the context. What's your method for distinguishing it??
mike
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Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. Oscar Wilde
Michal. I'm an english student :-)

[SkiIucK]

The following thought passes through my mind whenever I interact with such prepositions: 'If it sounds good, why not?'

[Jamie (K)]

You'll do better if you think of "in" as Polish "w", of "at" as Polish "na" (meaning to be in a place where there's a broad surface and some activity going on, such as a party or a factory), and as "on" also as Polish "na" (when something is on top of something, such as a table).

If you do this, you'll get it right most of the time.

The corner of the room is a type of enclosed space, so it's "in" ("w").
The street corner is a broad surface out in the open, so it's "on" ("na").

[Michauek]

wow. Thanks Jamie. I'm with it now ! What makes things worse is that there are many other prepositions which can make problems ;-)
But no one said that learning languages is easy ;p
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Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes. Oscar Wilde
Michal. I'm an english student :-)

[Alan]

Hi,

You might like to have a look at a piece I've written for the site on prepositions:

ESL Lesson: Prepositions

Or this:

ESL Lesson: Spot the preposition

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple