Breakdown of Что это за концептуальный чёрный куб?
это
this / it is
что
what
чёрный
black
что за
(in 'что за') what kind of
Questions & Answers about Что это за концептуальный чёрный куб?
Why is куб in the Nominative case here? Doesn't the preposition за normally take the Accusative or Instrumental case?
Normally, yes! However, the set phrase что за (meaning "what kind of" or "what a...") is a special exception. It always requires the noun and its modifiers to be in the Nominative case, which is why we see концептуальный чёрный куб completely unchanged here.
Why is это placed between что and за instead of at the beginning or end of the sentence?
In the что за construction, it is very common to split the phrase with a pronoun like это, он, or она. Saying Что это за... is the most natural and standard way to ask "What kind of [X] is this?". Putting это at the end of the sentence is possible but sounds much clunkier.
Could this exact same wording be used as an exclamation rather than a question?
Absolutely. Depending entirely on your intonation (or punctuation in writing), что за can express surprise, admiration, or indignation. If this sentence ended with an exclamation mark, it would translate to "What a conceptual black cube this is!"
Is there a reason why концептуальный comes before чёрный?