1. Yes, you can say "lets go there by 45th street." 1. "Why don't we take the next street over on our way back" sound quite normal; the first way you used doesn't. 2. A/the depends on the adjective used. We would say "a different ...... " but "the same ...." or "the other ....." or "another" 3. Just omit the "Over" "what route did you use to get here?"

2. I always take the same way to school Doesn't sound right. You would say: I always go/travel/walk the same way to school I always take the same route to school Why don't you go a different way to work? or Why don't you take a differet route to work? - This works, though implies that there is something wrong with the way the person is going. Let's go the other way to school. (This implies that there are only two ways that you both know about). Let's go a different way to school. (Not the usual way, but a different unspecified way). Let's take a different route to school. 3. This sounds like it's missing something. Did you take Lexington Avenue on the way over? Did you take Lexington Avenue on the way over here? Did you take Lexington Avenue on the way here? Did you come via Lexington Avenue? What route did you take? (What implies that the asker doesn't know any routes and would need a longer answer, e.g. I took the Motorway until junction 7 and then took the A31 until I got to...) Which route did you take? (which implies you know of two or more routes are are interested in which of those was used, e.g. Which route did you take? Answer: Lexington) Which way did you come? What way did you come? - Does not sound right. EDIT: Sorry this was a bit long, but I tried to include quite a few examples. I asked a few people if things sounded right and if they looked confused, I took that as a no.

1. I would say: I want to go to 3rd Avenue via 44th street Why don't we go back via 44th street To go by doesn't sound quite right. If you were to say 'I want to go to 3rd Avenue by 44th street', it sounds like you are using 'by' as in 'near to'. As if there is more than one 3rd Avenue and you are clarifying that the 3rd Avenue you mean is the one by 44th Street. E.g. "let's go to the shop by the post office" - specifying the shop that is near to the post office. Perhaps this isn't a problem with US city street names, which are sequential, but in places without numerical street names, it may cause a bit of confusion. It may not be completely clear that you want to go via that street. I have asked a few other native speakers how they would convey the request and they all said 'via' and attempts to think of a different way of saying it just sound like you are trying not to say 'via'. One suggestion was: I want to go to 3rd Avenue by way of 44th street. Via does exactly what you want, with no ambiguity, so it's hard to not use it. 'By' is also used when speaking of the mode of transport, for example: Let's go to London by train. Let's go by taxi. You can use 'by' to indicate that you want to stop off at a location as well, but it would be two clauses, for example: Let's go to the supermarket and go by the bookshop on the way back. This implies that the bookshop is generally on the way back, but would require a small detour from the direct route. Let's go to the supermarket and stop at the bookshop on the way back. The bookshop is directly on the way back from the supermarket.