Distanța este lungă.

Because Romanian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like the.

• distanță = distance
• distanța = the distance

So the -a at the end is the feminine singular definite article.

Because lungă has to agree with distanța, which is a feminine singular noun.

The adjective lung changes form depending on gender and number:

• lung = masculine singular
• lungă = feminine singular
• lungi = plural

Since distanța is feminine singular, the correct form is lungă.

The base form is distanță, meaning distance.

So:

• distanță = distance
• distanța = the distance

This is a very common pattern in Romanian: the dictionary form is usually the indefinite singular, and then the definite article gets attached to the end.

Este is the 3rd person singular form of the verb a fi, which means to be.

So:

• eu sunt = I am
• tu ești = you are
• el/ea este = he/she is

In this sentence, distanța is singular, so Romanian uses este:
Distanța este lungă = The distance is long

In everyday speech, people very often say e instead of este:

• Distanța e lungă

That is completely normal and very common.

Yes. This is a very normal sentence pattern:

noun + este/e + adjective

So:

• Distanța = the distance
• este = is
• lungă = long

The structure is very similar to English here:
The distance is long.

A simple English-friendly approximation is:

dis-TAN-tsa YES-te LOON-guh

A few helpful notes:

• ț sounds like ts in cats
• ă is a short central vowel, something like a relaxed uh
• g in lungă is a hard g, like in go

So:

• Distanța ≈ dis-TAN-tsa
• este ≈ YES-te
• lungă ≈ LOON-guh

They are separate Romanian letters with their own sounds.

• ă = a short unstressed uh sound
• ț = ts

So in this sentence:

• distanța contains ț = ts
• lungă ends in ă = uh

These diacritics are important. Without them, the spelling is incomplete or incorrect in standard Romanian.

It is understandable and grammatically correct, but in many real-life situations Romanians might prefer a different wording.

For example:

• Distanța este mare. = The distance is great/large.
• Drumul este lung. = The road/journey is long.

Why? Because in English, distance can easily be described as long, but in Romanian people often describe distance as mare and a road/journey as lung.

So Distanța este lungă is fine for learning grammar, but it may sound a bit less natural than some alternatives depending on context.

Yes. That is very common.

• este = full form
• e = shorter everyday form

So both are correct:

• Distanța este lungă.
• Distanța e lungă.

The second one sounds more natural in casual speech.

Because this sentence is not saying a long distance as a noun phrase. It is saying The distance is long, which is a full sentence.

Compare:

• o distanță lungă = a long distance
• distanța este lungă = the distance is long

In the first one, lungă directly modifies the noun.
In the second one, lungă comes after este and works as a predicate adjective.

Then the adjective would also change to the masculine form.

For example:

• Drumul este lung. = The road is long.

Here:

• drumul is masculine singular
• so the adjective is lung, not lungă

This shows how Romanian adjectives agree with the noun’s gender and number.

It is in the present tense.

• este = is

So the sentence means that right now, or generally, the distance is long.

If you wanted another tense, the verb would change:

• Distanța a fost lungă. = The distance was long.
• Distanța va fi lungă. = The distance will be long.

Yes. Like English distance, Romanian distanță can be literal or figurative depending on context.

It can refer to:

• physical distance
• emotional distance
• social or metaphorical distance

So Distanța este lungă would usually be understood literally, but the noun itself can be used more broadly in other contexts.