Learn French: La maison est au bord du lac. - The house is at the edge of the lake.

Yes! Just like à côté de (next to) or loin de (far from), au bord de is a multi-word phrase used to describe where something is. It literally translates to "at the edge of" or "on the shore of".

Why does the sentence say du lac instead of de le lac?

When a complex preposition ends in de (of) and is followed by the masculine article le (the), they must combine. In French, de + le always contracts to du. Since lac is masculine, it becomes au bord du lac (at the edge of the lake).

Why is it au bord instead of à bord?

You need the article le (the) before bord to say "at the edge". Therefore, à (at) + le (the) contracts to au. Be careful: à bord is also a real phrase in French, but it means "aboard" or "on board" a ship, train, or plane!

How is au bord du lac different from près du lac?

While both tell us where the house is, près du lac just means "near the lake." It could be a short walk away. Au bord du lac is much more specific—it means the house is right "on the shore" or "at the very edge" of the water.