Breakdown of Это был долгий разговор.
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
быть
to be
долгий
long (of time)
разговор
the conversation, the talk (m)
Questions & Answers about Это был долгий разговор.
Why does the sentence use the masculine был after the neuter pronoun Это?
When Это is used to mean "It is" or "This is", the past tense of the verb "to be" (быть) must agree with the gender of the noun that follows it, not with Это. Since разговор (conversation) is a masculine noun, we use the masculine past tense был.
Could I use длинный instead of долгий for "long" here?
No, you should stick with долгий. In Russian, долгий is used for things that are long in time or duration (like a conversation, a journey, or a wait). длинный is used for things that are physically long in space or distance (like a street, a dress, or a rope).
What case is долгий разговор in, and why isn't it in the instrumental case?
It is in the nominative case. While the instrumental case is often used with был to describe what someone or something was (like a person's profession), simple sentences identifying what an event or object was using Это был... keep the noun in the nominative case.
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