Η απογοήτευσή του κράτησε λίγο, και μετά ένιωσε ανακούφιση όταν διάβασε σωστά το email.

Greek normally uses the definite article with nouns much more often than English does. So Η απογοήτευσή του literally looks like the disappointment his, but the natural English translation is simply his disappointment.

This is very common:

• το βιβλίο μου = my book
• η αδελφή της = her sister
• ο φίλος μας = our friend

So the article η is not extra here; it is the normal Greek pattern.

In this sentence, του means his. It is the weak genitive pronoun, and in Greek these possessive pronouns usually come after the noun:

• η απογοήτευσή του = his disappointment
• το σπίτι μου = my house
• η ιδέα τους = their idea

So English says his disappointment, but Greek says the disappointment his.

Also, the same form του can mean to him in other contexts. Here, because it follows a noun, it is clearly possessive.

This happens because του is an enclitic word. When certain words are followed by enclitics like μου, σου, του, της, μας, σας, τους, Greek spelling may add an extra accent to the preceding word.

So:

• η απογοήτευση
  becomes
• η απογοήτευσή του

The original stress pattern is still there, but Greek adds this written accent because of the enclitic that follows. You will see the same thing in many common phrases:

• ο δάσκαλός μου
• η απόφασή της
• το πρόσωπό του

This is a spelling and pronunciation-pattern issue that learners just gradually get used to.

Κρατάω / κρατώ can mean hold, but it also very often means last.

So here:

• Η απογοήτευσή του κράτησε λίγο = His disappointment lasted a little while

In this sentence, λίγο means for a short time, not a little bit in the physical sense.

Other examples:

• Η συνάντηση κράτησε δύο ώρες. = The meeting lasted two hours.
• Η βροχή κράτησε λίγο. = The rain lasted a short while.

Κράτησε is the aorist form of κρατάω / κρατώ. The aorist presents the action as a complete whole: his disappointment began, lasted briefly, and ended.

That fits the sentence well, because the sentence narrates a sequence:

1. he was disappointed,
2. that lasted briefly,
3. then he felt relief.

If Greek used the imperfect instead, such as κρατούσε, it would sound more like background description or an ongoing situation rather than a completed stretch in the story.

So:

• κράτησε = it lasted, as a completed event
• κρατούσε = it was lasting / it kept lasting, more descriptive

Και μετά here means and then or and afterwards.

• και = and
• μετά = after, afterwards, then

Together, they create a natural narrative link:

• κράτησε λίγο, και μετά ένιωσε ανακούφιση
  = it lasted briefly, and then he felt relief

In everyday Greek, μετά by itself can also mean then/afterwards, but και μετά is very natural in storytelling.

Because Greek, like English, often leaves out the article with abstract nouns in this kind of expression.

So:

• ένιωσε ανακούφιση = he felt relief

That is the most natural general phrasing here.

If you said ένιωσε την ανακούφιση, it would sound more specific, as if you were referring to a particular relief already identified in the context.

You could also say:

• ένιωσε μια ανακούφιση

That means something like he felt a sense of relief or some relief, with a slightly different nuance.

Ένιωσε is the aorist of νιώθω (to feel).

Here the aorist works well because the sentence is describing a single completed emotional shift: after the disappointment, he felt relief.

So the aorist here has the sense of:

• he felt
• he came to feel
• he experienced

It fits the narrative sequence very naturally.

Because όταν here introduces a specific completed event: the moment when he read the email correctly.

So:

• όταν διάβασε σωστά το email = when he read the email correctly

Greek often uses the aorist after όταν when the action is viewed as a single completed event.

Compare:

• Όταν διάβασε το email, ένιωσε ανακούφιση.
  = When he read the email, he felt relief.
• Όταν διάβαζε το email, ήταν νευρικός.
  = While he was reading the email, he was nervous.

So διάβασε gives a completed, event-like feeling, not an ongoing one.

Σωστά is the adverb correctly / properly / right. It comes from the adjective σωστός (correct, right).

Here it modifies διάβασε:

• διάβασε σωστά το email = he read the email correctly

In context, this probably means he understood or interpreted the email correctly, perhaps after first misunderstanding it.

So διαβάζω can mean not only physically read, but also read and understand what something says.

Greek very often uses foreign words, especially modern ones like email, with normal Greek articles.

Here email is treated as neuter, so it takes το:

• το email

This is very common with loanwords. Many indeclinable borrowed nouns are treated as neuter by default.

You may also see spellings like:

• το ιμέιλ
• το μέιλ

But το email is extremely common in real usage.

Yes, Greek word order is more flexible than English word order. The version in the sentence is natural and neutral, but other orders are possible for emphasis.

For example:

• Μετά ένιωσε ανακούφιση όταν διάβασε σωστά το email.
• Όταν διάβασε σωστά το email, ένιωσε ανακούφιση.

These all mean roughly the same thing, but the focus shifts a little.

Still, some parts are less flexible than others:

• του normally stays after the noun in η απογοήτευσή του
• σωστά naturally stays close to διάβασε
• το email stays together as a noun phrase

So yes, Greek allows movement, but not completely freely.