Рабочий день был долгим.

The workday was long.

Breakdown of Рабочий день был долгим.

• быть: to be
• долгий: long
• рабочий день: the workday

Questions & Answers about Рабочий день был долгим.

Why is долгим used instead of долгий?

Долгим is the instrumental case form of the adjective долгий (masculine, singular). In this sentence it’s used as a predicate after the verb был (to be in the past tense):

• долгий – nominative (dictionary form)
• долгим – instrumental (masculine singular)

Russian often uses the instrumental case for the complement after быть in the past or future. So:

• Рабочий день был долгим. – The workday was long.

You can also hear Рабочий день был долгий. (nominative), which is grammatically possible. The difference is subtle: instrumental often sounds a bit more like “turned out to be / felt / was characterized as long,” while nominative is a bit more neutral or matter‑of‑fact. In everyday speech, most people won’t feel a big difference here.

What case is долгим, and when do you use that case after был?

Долгим is instrumental case, masculine singular of долгий.

The instrumental is used:

1. With nouns after verbs like быть, становиться, работать, казаться, являться etc., often to show someone’s role, status, or a characteristic:

   • Он был учителем. – He was a teacher.
   • Она стала директором. – She became a director.

2. With adjectives as a predicate complement (like here):

   • День был долгим. – The day was long.
   • Погода была холодной. – The weather was cold.

So in Рабочий день был долгим, долгим agrees with день (masculine singular) in gender and number, but appears in instrumental because it’s the predicate after был.

Why is there no word for “the” in Рабочий день был долгим?

Russian does not have articles (the, a, an) at all. The sentence Рабочий день был долгим can mean:

• The workday was long.
• A workday was long.

Whether it feels like “the” or “a” depends entirely on context, not on any specific word in the sentence.

Example:

• Talking about yesterday: Вчера рабочий день был долгим. – Yesterday the workday was long.
• Talking in general: В нашем офисе рабочий день всегда долгий. – In our office the workday is always long.

What case is рабочий день, and how can I tell?

Рабочий день is in the nominative case. It’s the subject of the sentence – the thing we are talking about.

Clues:

• The noun день in the nominative singular is день.
• The adjective рабочий is masculine singular nominative, agreeing with день.

So:

• рабочий (Nom. masc. sg.) + день (Nom. masc. sg.) → subject: Рабочий день
• был долгим → predicate.

In a dictionary you’ll find день in exactly this form – that’s another hint it’s nominative.

What gender is день, and how does that affect the sentence?

День is masculine.

Effects in this sentence:

1. The adjective before it is masculine:

   • рабочий день (not рабочая день or рабочее день).

2. The past tense of быть agrees in gender with the subject:

   • день был (masculine)
   • Compare: ночь была (feminine), время было (neuter), дни были (plural).

3. The predicate adjective in instrumental is masculine singular:

   • долгим (masc. sg. instr.) agreeing with день.

So the genders line up: рабочий (m) день (m) был (m) долгим (m).

Do we have to use был here? Can we say Рабочий день долгий or Рабочий день долгим without был?

In the past tense, you normally must use был / была / было / были. Without it, the sentence sounds unfinished or wrong in standard Russian.

• Correct (past):
  Рабочий день был долгим. – The workday was long.

• Wrong as a past statement:
  Рабочий день долгим. – No verb; sounds like a fragment.

However, in the present tense, Russian usually drops the verb есть (“is”):

• Рабочий день долгий. – The workday is long (in general). – This is fine as a present-time general statement.

So:

• Talking about a specific day in the past → you need был.
• Talking about a general fact in the present → Рабочий день долгий is fine, but then the meaning changes to present.

What is the difference between долгий, длинный, and длительный?

All three can be translated as “long”, but they’re used differently:

1. Долгий – mostly about time, often with a nuance of “felt long”:

   • долгий день – a long day (subjectively long).
   • долгое ожидание – a long wait.

   Рабочий день был долгим. is perfectly natural.

2. Длинный – primarily about physical length in space:

   • длинная дорога – a long road.
   • длинные волосы – long hair.

   It can be used for time, but more literally or informally:

   • длинный рабочий день – a long workday (focusing on many hours in the schedule).

3. Длительный – more formal, often “prolonged/extended”:

   • длительное лечение – prolonged treatment.
   • длительный отпуск – an extended vacation.

   Длительный рабочий день would sound quite formal or technical.

For this exact sentence, долгим is the most natural and neutral choice.

How do I say “My workday was long” using this structure?

You just add a possessive pronoun before рабочий день:

• Мой рабочий день был долгим. – My workday was long.

Other persons:

• Твой рабочий день был долгим. – Your (informal) workday was long.
• Его рабочий день был долгим. – His workday was long.
• Её рабочий день был долгим. – Her workday was long.
• Наш рабочий день был долгим. – Our workday was long.
• Их рабочий день был долгим. – Their workday was long.

Can the word order change, for example Долгим был рабочий день?

Yes, Russian word order is relatively flexible, and you can change the order:

• Рабочий день был долгим. – neutral, default order.
• Долгим был рабочий день. – emphasizes долгим (“It was long that the workday was”; stressing how long it was).
• Был долгим рабочий день. – also possible, with a bit of a stylistic or poetic flavor.

The basic meaning stays the same, but the focus shifts. The neutral, most common version is exactly what you have:

• Рабочий день был долгим.

How do you pronounce Рабочий день был долгим, and where is the stress?

Stresses:

• Рабо́чий – ra-BO-chiy
• день – one syllable, dyen’
• был – byl (like “bɨl”)
• до́лгим – DÓL-gim

So with stress marks:

• Рабо́чий день был до́лгим.

Approximate transliteration: rabóchiy den’ byl dólgim.

Key points:

• о in unstressed syllables is pronounced more like a: рабо́чий → [rʌˈbot͡ɕɪj] (roughly).
• день has a soft н at the end: [dʲenʲ].
• Stress in долгим stays on the first syllable, as in до́лгий.

What is the difference between рабочий день, день на работе, and рабочее время?

They are related but not identical:

1. Рабочий день

   • Literally “workday / working day”.
   • Can mean the whole day when you are supposed to work (9–5 etc.), or simply a weekday as opposed to a weekend.
   • Рабочий день был долгим. – The workday was long.

2. День на работе

   • Literally “day at work”.
   • Emphasizes that you spent the day at your workplace.
   • Вчера день на работе был тяжёлым. – Yesterday the day at work was hard.

3. Рабочее время

   • Literally “working time / work hours”.
   • More abstract; refers to the period during which you are supposed to be working, not the whole “day” including morning/evening.
   • Моё рабочее время — с девяти до шести. – My working hours are from nine to six.

In Рабочий день был долгим, you’re describing the whole working day as long or tiring.