living on the river

[englishhobby]

Is it natural to say 'I live on the river' if I do not live literally 'on the river' (just close to the river)? Or should only 'by the river' (and other synonymous collocations) be used in this case?

 

[jutfrank]

No, on is good.

 

[probus]

Think of it this way @englishhobby: on the river is short for on the bank of the river.

 

[BobK]

No, on is good.

In fact if you mean 'on' literally (i.e. in a house-boat) you may need to specify that in some way - say ' I live on the river, actually on it'.

 

[PeterCW]

I would interpret "on the river" as either living on a boat or in a property where you could moor or launch a boat. Simply living in house facing a riverside road would be "by" or "overlooking" the river.

On the other hand living "on" a canal would only mean living on a boat.

 

[marco_on_the_grassland]

Excuse me, may I have a moment of your time? The preposition "on" in English often means "in contact with", so "to live on the river" typically means "to live by the river". However, more than a few Japanese beginners tend to misconstrue "on" as "on top of". That's why they might not fully grasp the use of "on" in a sentence like "a fly is on the ceiling". So, my question is, do speakers of other languages (not English, of course) also make these kinds of mistakes in understanding?

 

[jutfrank]

Excuse me, may I have a moment of your time? The preposition "on" in English often means "in contact with"

Yes.

so "to live on the river" typically means "to live by the river".

It can mean both living on the surface of the water, say on a riverboat, and living by the river on the land.

However, more than a few Japanese beginners tend to misconstrue "on" as "on top of". That's why they might not fully grasp the use of "on" in a sentence like "a fly is on the ceiling".

Yes, that's very true, and it's not just Japanese who do this.

So, my question is, do speakers of other languages (not English, of course) also make these kinds of mistakes in understanding?

Oh, with prepositions absolutely yes! Misuse of prepositions is a major area of difficulty for learners of all cultures.

 

[jutfrank]

Regarding the basic sense of 'on' in 'on the river' when it refers to living on land by a river, the schema is this:

The river is represented as a line, where any point is 'on' the line. Even if your house is quite a way from the water, you'd say you were living on the river if it were close enough to be basically represented that way.

Similar examples:

on the border
on the coast/sea/lake
on the equator
on the High Street
on the edge of the New Forest

In all of these examples, you still have the basic sense of contact but it's important to understand that contact is understood schematically (conceptually), not physically.

 

[Tarheel]

An example would be me saying I'm on South Boulevard even though you have to walk quite a ways to get to my apartment. (You go up the hill and then you go down the hill. )