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Мне удалось закончить правку до обеда, и я отправил новый файл начальнице.

Мне удалось закончить правку до обеда, и я отправил новый файл начальнице.
I managed to finish the edits by lunch, and I sent the new file to my (female) boss.

Breakdown of Мне удалось закончить правку до обеда, и я отправил новый файл начальнице.

я
I
новый
new
и
and
обед
the lunch
закончить
to finish
отправить
to send
файл
the file
начальница
the female boss
удаться
to manage (to)
правка
the editing
до
by / before
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Questions & Answers about Мне удалось закончить правку до обеда, и я отправил новый файл начальнице.

Why does the sentence start with Мне, and what role does it play?

Мне is the dative case of я (to me / for me). In the construction мне удалось + infinitive, the dative marks the person who “managed” to do something. It’s a common impersonal pattern: literally It succeeded for me to…, i.e. I managed to….

What exactly does удалось mean here, and why is it in the past tense neuter?

Удалось comes from удаться (to succeed / to work out). In мне удалось…, Russian treats it as an impersonal “it worked out” situation, so the verb is usually 3rd person singular neuter in the past: удалось, not удался/удалась.
So Мне удалось закончить… = I managed to finish… / I was able to finish… (with an implication that it wasn’t guaranteed or might have been difficult).

Why is закончить an infinitive, and why is it perfective?

After удалось, Russian normally uses an infinitive for the action that was successfully completed: удалось + infinitive.
Закончить is perfective, because it focuses on a completed result (to finish). If you used the imperfective заканчивать, it would sound unusual here because удалось implies successful completion.

What is правку grammatically (case/number), and what does it come from?

Правку is accusative singular of правка (editing / corrections / revision). It’s the direct object of закончить: закончить (что?) правку.
The nominative form is правка.

Why is it до обеда, and what case is обеда?

До means until / before (a deadline) and requires the genitive case.
So обед (lunch) becomes обеда (genitive singular): до (чего?) обеда = before lunch.

Why does Russian repeat и я, and could it be omitted?

И я отправил… explicitly marks the subject of the second clause (I sent…). In many contexts, я can be omitted because the verb ending shows the subject: …и отправил новый файл начальнице.
But including я can add emphasis/clarity: “and then I sent…”

Why is отправил masculine, and what would change for a female speaker?

In the past tense, Russian verbs agree in gender with the subject.

  • Male speaker: я отправил
  • Female speaker: я отправила
    Plural: мы отправили
Why is it новый файл (and not some other ending on новый)?

Adjectives agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.
Файл is masculine singular nominative/accusative (inanimate), so the adjective is новый.
If it were neuter, you’d get новое, e.g. новое письмо (new email/letter).

Why is the recipient начальнице in the dative case?

With verbs like отправить (to send), the thing being sent is typically accusative (файл), and the recipient is dative:

  • отправить (что?) файл
  • отправить (кому?) начальнице
    So начальнице is dative singular of начальница (female boss / supervisor).
Does начальница specifically mean a female boss, and what if the boss is male?

Yes, начальница is explicitly female. For a male boss you’d use начальник, and the dative would be начальнику:
…и я отправил новый файл начальнику.