الغيبة كانت طويلة المرة دي.

Here الغيبة means absence or being away.

A useful warning: in other contexts, especially in more formal Arabic, غيبة can also mean backbiting / speaking badly about someone behind their back. But in this sentence, because of the context, it clearly means absence.

كانت is the past-tense form of كان for a feminine singular subject, and it works like was here.

In Egyptian Arabic, if you want to say something like X is long, you often do not use a verb in the present:

الغيبة طويلة = The absence is long

But in the past, you usually add a form of كان:

الغيبة كانت طويلة = The absence was long

So كانت is there because the sentence is talking about the past.

Because الغيبة is treated as a feminine singular noun.

That means:

• the past form of كان becomes كانت
• the adjective طويل becomes طويلة

So the grammar is agreeing with الغيبة.

A rough pattern is:

• masculine: كان طويل
• feminine: كانت طويلة

Yes, طويلة literally means long, but here it refers to duration, not physical length.

So it means something like:

• long
• lengthy
• for a long time

This is very normal in Arabic, just like English can say a long absence.

المرة دي means this time.

It is made of:

• المرة = the time / the occasion
• دي = this (feminine singular, in Egyptian Arabic)

So literally it is something like the time this, but naturally it means this time.

Because in Egyptian Arabic, demonstratives like ده / دي / دول usually come after the noun.

So Egyptian Arabic commonly says:

• البنت دي = this girl
• العربية دي = this car
• المرة دي = this time

This is different from English, where this comes before the noun.

It is also different from Standard Arabic structures like هذه المرة, which put the demonstrative first.

Both noun phrases are definite.

• الغيبة is the absence — a specific absence understood from context
• المرة دي is a definite expression meaning this time

In Egyptian Arabic, a phrase like المرة دي is naturally definite because دي makes it specific.

So the sentence is talking about:

• a specific absence
• a specific occasion: this time

Yes, Egyptian Arabic has some flexibility in word order.

The sentence as given:

الغيبة كانت طويلة المرة دي

is very natural.

You may also hear:

• الغيبة كانت طويلة المرة دي
• المرة دي الغيبة كانت طويلة
• المرة دي كانت الغيبة طويلة

These can all work, but the emphasis shifts a little.

For example:

• starting with المرة دي puts more focus on this time
• starting with الغيبة puts the topic first as the absence

The original sentence sounds very conversational and natural.

A common pronunciation would be:

il-ghiiba kaanit tawiila il-marra di

A few notes:

• الـ is usually pronounced il- in Egyptian Arabic
• غ is a throaty sound often approximated as gh
• كانت is often pronounced kaanit
• طويلة is often pronounced tawiila
• دي sounds like di

So the whole sentence flows roughly like:

il-ghiiba kaanit tawiila il-marra di

Yes, but the meaning changes.

• الغيبة كانت طويلة المرة دي = the absence was long this time
• الغيبة طويلة المرة دي = the absence is long this time

So if you remove كانت, the sentence is no longer clearly in the past. It becomes present-time or general-current meaning.

Since your sentence is about a finished past absence, كانت is the right choice.

In Egyptian Arabic, a very common negation would be:

الغيبة ما كانتش طويلة المرة دي

That means The absence wasn’t long this time.

The pattern is:

• ما ... ش around the verb

So:

• كانت = was
• ما كانتش = was not / wasn’t

This is one of the most important everyday negation patterns in Egyptian Arabic.