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13:05 Oct 27, 2011
English to English translations [Non-PRO] General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
English term or phrase:In or on
"In the forum" or "on the forum", which one is correct? Thanks.
the dais is something physical, like a chair or table, so 'on'; but a space is 'in'
But you and I would say 'IN an armchair', not 'on'; and 'data in an Excel table', not data 'on' an Excel table. So, again, examples without precise context are no substiture for 'rules', and are not very helpful - especially to those who don't have our 'feeling' for the English language.
I do understand what you mean by "feeling right". But I am not a native English speaker, the "feeling right" theory works only in a very limited way with me. I need a rule, which helps me to choose the correct word. Prepositions have been the most difficult part for a language learner, cause even if there is a rule, it does not always work.
OK, perhaps that was a red herring.. except that it only serves to reinforce the familiarity of the collocation of 'in' with 'forum', and it is just that sort of familiarity that will sometimes inform what 'feels' right where there is perhaps no hard-and-fast rule.
but I think in the case of "participate in", it has nothing to do with "forum"; the verb has made it fixed that it has to be "in". Can you participate on anything?
When 'the forum' connotes a space, it has to be 'in', just as we would say "a statue in the square"
I would venture to suggest that when 'forum' refers to a (virtual!) physical web page, etc., then 'on' might be acceptable: "how long have you been on KudoZ?" — but cf. "how long have you been participating in this forum?"; and also Liz's example of 'posting' — where one would naturally say "posting on a message board", and so might expect "posting on a forum" — except that once again, a 'message board' might be considered something physical, whereas in this case, a 'forum' is an abstract idea.
The translation workplace 
peer agreement (net): +8