"川のそばにむらがあります。"

Translation: There is a village by the river.

[Yuzuling]

Shouldn't the english for soba be "by" not "on"? For me soba is more like "by my side"

[Arsuru]

It can depend on context. In English, when something — usually large and not-so-mobile — is located right next to the water, we often say it is "on" it. It's very common to hear of a city on the river for example, and of course, it isn't actually on top of it.

川のそば is "river's side" (though not quite "riverside") so it is suggesting a very close proximity. "On" would be perfectly natural to say here.

[KyrokiKaze]

I would still say the village is by the river. Different dialects of English say it differently. Pretty sure "on" is standard in more British variants, while "by" is more American English

[Arsuru]

Well, I'm from the U.S and I've probably heard "on" used more for things like cities or attractions, but the way things are said can vary greatly throughout the nation.

For what it's worth, Google's n-gram viewer generally shows "city/town/village on the river" as being more common in either English to varying degrees. Playing around with the type of water and establishment shows some interesting trends, but "on" seems to generally be dominant, though the margin is not currently huge.

[darthoctopus]

川の側に村が在ります

[Sergei_K_]

そば or 側 // Usually written using kana alone

ある or 有る or 在る // Usually written using kana alone

source

[Viporal]

I did "there is a river by the village" and it told me it was "there is a village by the river." What did i do to deserve this?

[nikipound]

I assume it's because the direct object of arimasu is mura?

[schapmangt]

"There is a village beside the river" was marked wrong

[Thkgk]

Doulingo have to fix that
側 (そば ) = 1. near; close; beside; vicinity; proximity; besides; while

[rinarini1]

yeah i also answered that and it was wrong

[LinguDemo]

Wouldn't の近くに be closer to "near" here?

[rejsmiddy]

Both are fine. 近く is a more general area and のそば is like right next to IIRC.

[eclairevoyant]

近く is generally near, そば is a tight area near (but still some leeway), すぐそば would be directly next to

[KaterinaRuud]

Near a tree by a river, there's a hole in the ground ...

[aichan154267]

beside the river is quite natural

[TerryWallwork]

Could the sentence also translate to: There is a river near the village.

[Raviki94]

i too wrote the same sentence - there is a river ..... but if you look at japanese sentence, it says 川のそば which mean near river , so sentence should be there is a village near the river

[Orion-the-Red]

i also like the explanation of one of the other commenters, that "mura" is the object of "arimasu".

[aichan154267]

Americans might say "on the river"

[anajalba]

There is a village on the river. How does that work? But I guess if dogs can sell flowers, anything is possible...

[toastedbunz]

There is a river by the village.. WRONG??