"Are they by the phone?"是"它们在电话旁边吗?"的直译。

"By"这个副词有"在旁边"的意思，而"phone"是"电话"的意思，所以"by the phone"就是"在电话旁边"。

例句：

Are they by the phone? 他们在电话旁边吗？
Can you put the book by the phone? 你能把书放在电话旁边吗？
I left my keys by the phone. 我把钥匙放在电话旁边了。