by the lake为什么用by

习惯用语，此处by表示靠近，例如：

1.Huge numbers of birds had flocked together by the lake.成群的鸟聚集在湖边。

2.But every day, we would sit by the lake, looking at the house and dreaming of what it would be like to live there.但每天,我们都会坐在湖边,看着房子,梦想着住在那里会是什么样子。

by the lake为什么用by？

习惯用语。by the lake意思是“在湖边”，而near the lake的意思是“在湖附近”。