Breakdown of После этого горя он долго не говорил.
не
not
он
he / it (for a masculine noun) / it (for a neuter noun)
этот
this [f: эта, n: это]
говорить
to speak, to talk
Questions & Answers about После этого горя он долго не говорил.
Why does the word горе change to горя in this sentence?
The preposition После (after) always requires the Genitive case. горе (grief) is a neuter noun ending in a soft -е, so it changes to -я in the Genitive case, making it горя. The modifier этот (this) also changes to its Genitive form, этого.
The translation says "that grief", but doesn't этого come from этот meaning "this"?
Yes, этот literally means "this", while тот means "that". However, in Russian, этот is used much more frequently than "this" is in English to refer back to a recently mentioned topic or event. English speakers naturally say "after that grief", but Russian prefers the closer, more immediate этого.
Why is the imperfective verb говорил used here instead of the perfective сказал?
The adverb долго (for a long time) focuses on the duration of an action or state. Whenever you emphasize how long a continuous state lasted, you must use the imperfective aspect. If you used the perfective сказал, it would mean he failed to say a specific thing or failed to make a single statement.
Could I use много времени instead of долго to mean "for a long time"?