После совещания ей было не до шуток, потому что начальница говорила слишком резко.

Because после always requires the genitive case in Russian.

• совещание = the basic dictionary form, nominative
• после совещания = after the meeting

So:

• совещание → nominative
• совещания → genitive singular

This is a very common pattern:

• после урока = after the lesson
• после работы = after work
• после фильма = after the film

Ей is the dative case of она and means to her.

In this sentence, Russian uses an impersonal structure:

• ей было не до шуток

Literally, this is something like:

• to her it was not up to jokes

A more natural English meaning is:

• she was in no mood for jokes
• she didn’t feel like joking

The dative is used because the feeling or state is being presented as something experienced by her, rather than as a direct action she performs.

Не до шуток is a set expression. It means:

• not in the mood for joking
• this is no time for jokes
• not up for jokes
• feeling too serious or upset to joke

So ей было не до шуток means that she felt serious, upset, or emotionally affected.

Grammatically:

• было = was
• не до шуток = literally not to the point of jokes, but idiomatically not in the mood for jokes

You should learn не до + genitive as a useful pattern:

• мне сейчас не до разговоров = I’m not in the mood for talking right now
• ему было не до сна = he was in no state to sleep / sleep was the last thing on his mind

Because the expression не до takes the genitive case.

The noun is шутка:

• nominative singular: шутка
• genitive plural: шуток

In this idiom, the plural often sounds natural because the idea is general: jokes/joking rather than one specific joke.

So:

• не до шуток = not in the mood for jokes

This is best understood as a fixed phrase.

Good question. Было is neuter singular because this is an impersonal construction.

There is no normal grammatical subject like она была.... Instead, Russian says:

• ей было трудно
• мне было холодно
• ему было скучно
• ей было не до шуток

In these patterns, the past tense often appears in the default neuter singular form:

• было

So было does not agree with ей. It is simply the standard form used in this kind of impersonal sentence.

Начальница specifically refers to a female boss/supervisor.

• начальник = male boss, or sometimes boss in a general sense
• начальница = female boss

Since the sentence later uses говорила, which is feminine past tense, we know the boss is female.

Because this is past tense, and the speaker is female: начальница.

In Russian past tense:

• говорил = he spoke / was speaking
• говорила = she spoke / was speaking
• говорило = it spoke / was speaking
• говорили = they spoke / were speaking

So:

• начальница говорила = the female boss was speaking / spoke

In this context, говорила suggests the way she was speaking, not just the fact that she said one thing.

Слишком резко means too harshly, too sharply, or too bluntly.

• слишком = too, excessively
• резко = sharply, harshly, abruptly

Here резко describes how the boss spoke. It usually refers more to tone, manner, or harshness than to volume.

So this does not necessarily mean she was shouting. It means her way of speaking was unpleasantly sharp or severe.

Потому что is the standard way to say because when introducing a reason.

• ..., потому что начальница говорила слишком резко.
• ..., because the boss was speaking too harshly.

Using only потому here would be incomplete in normal speech.

Compare:

• Я ушёл, потому что устал. = I left because I was tired.

There are other ways to express reason, such as так как or из-за того, что, but потому что is the most common and neutral choice.

Not exactly in every context. Совещание usually means a formal work-related meeting, especially one for discussion, planning, or coordination.

It is often closer to:

• staff meeting
• conference meeting
• work meeting

For more general meeting, Russian may use other words depending on context, such as:

• встреча = meeting/encounter/appointment
• собрание = meeting/assembly

So после совещания strongly suggests a workplace or official setting.

Yes, Russian word order is flexible, but the original order sounds natural:

• После совещания ей было не до шуток, потому что начальница говорила слишком резко.

This order presents:

1. the time frame: after the meeting
2. her emotional state: she was in no mood for jokes
3. the reason: because the boss spoke too harshly

You could rearrange parts for emphasis, for example:

• Ей после совещания было не до шуток...
• Потому что начальница говорила слишком резко, ей было не до шуток после совещания.

But the original is the most neutral and natural for a learner to model.

It mainly describes a state and its cause, not a sharply completed event.

• ей было не до шуток = her state after the meeting
• начальница говорила слишком резко = the boss was speaking too harshly / spoke too harshly

The verb говорила is imperfective, so it focuses on the manner or process of speaking rather than one completed, single remark.

That is why the sentence feels like:

• After the meeting, she was in no mood for jokes, because the boss had been speaking too harshly.

rather than:

• ...because the boss said one specific thing.