"Sempre foi desse jeito."

Translation: It was always this way.

[gpriddy]

Why can't I say: He was always that way.

[Paulenrique]

that is also correct!!

[reno300]

If the sentence was in reference to a man, wouldn't it need 'ele' at the start?

[duoitaliano]

Shouldn't the correct translations be:

Sempre foi desse jeito = It was always THAT way

Sempre foi DESTE jeito = It was always this way

?????

[Paulenrique]

Yeah, but in real life we are not too strict with it =)

[kiki9949]

Why the use of "desse" instead of "esse"?

[Mtycer]

That's just what I was thinking too. I can't see how 'de' is required to force the contraction.

[banabo]

My answer was' It was always by that way', but not accepted. Is this 'de' here a kind of idiomatic usage?

[LotSparham]

"It was always thus" - not accepted, but I think it should be...

[birdmanbill]

Wow....I think ĺ may have found someone on duo that is older than me
...oh! ......and I agree!

[GScottOliver]

Or even, "It was ever thus."

[LotSparham]

Yep

[Bill289935]

I am still confused with desse and deste. I translated desse jeito as "that way "which was given as correct but DL also gave alternative as "this way" which I thought would be "deste jeito". In English there is a difference between the 2

[sharkbbb]

Formally este/esta/isto=this and esse/essa/isso=that, but two factors complicate things. In Brazil the first group of words is often replaced with the second one, so esse/essa/isso can also mean "this". On the other hand in abstract usage the two words can be used with almost the same meaning, so "this way" is often the same as "that way" when they mean "the method we were talking about". It's up to Duo to decide which of the complicated meanings to accept, but if you want to be safe stick to the formal meaning.

[gian.incha]

It can be he/she or it, but it only accepts as correct it.

[chopsuey]

I said "It always has been that way." - lost a heart :/

[Jelenica7]

I would also rather use Pres.Perf. but with a different word order: It has always been that way.

[jaaadz]

Modo vs jeito vs maneira

[jaaadz]

"Dont know if madeira is a word, but it sounds like spanish "manera")

[mcortel]

I am sure you wanted to type maneira. Maneira is also = modo = jeito.
Yes , it is similar to Spanish but I double checked its meaning.

[Michael_Tavares]

I woud have thought te imperfect past would make more sense, sempre era desse jeito, as "this way" is something it was, and maybe still is, but not a fixed finished event.

[chartsman]

How to say "I was always like that"?

[Paulenrique]

Sempre fui desse jeito.