Make the timeline unambiguous
Bevor ich umzog, suchte ich eine Wohnung.
Explain which event happened first without confusing sentence order with event order.
Bevor means before and does not say that the first clause in the sentence happened first. In Bevor ich umzog, suchte ich eine Wohnung, the search precedes the move. Nachdem means after. To explicitly mark an earlier completed event relative to another past event, use Plusquamperfekt: Nachdem ich den Vertrag unterschrieben hatte, zog ich ein. Form it with hatte or war plus the past participle, choosing the auxiliary as in Perfekt. After a fronted subordinate clause, the main finite verb comes before its subject. Everyday accounts also use simpler sequences such as Zuerst habe ich unterschrieben. Dann bin ich eingezogen.
Bevor ich umzog, suchte ich eine Wohnung.
Before I moved, I looked for a flat.
Nachdem ich unterschrieben hatte, bekam ich den Schlüssel.
After I had signed, I received the key.
Ich hatte die Unterlagen schon vorbereitet.
I had already prepared the documents.
Nachdem ich angekommen war, rief ich meine Familie an.
After I had arrived, I called my family.
Zuerst habe ich gepackt, dann bin ich losgefahren.
First I packed, then I set off.
Vor dem Umzug war noch viel zu tun.
Before the move there was still a lot to do.
Bevor means before and does not say that the first clause in the sentence happened first. In Bevor ich umzog, suchte ich eine Wohnung, the search precedes the move. Nachdem means after. To explicitly mark an earlier completed event relative to another past event, use Plusquamperfekt: Nachdem ich den Vertrag unterschrieben hatte, zog ich ein. Form it with hatte or war plus the past participle, choosing the auxiliary as in Perfekt. After a fronted subordinate clause, the main finite verb comes before its subject. Everyday accounts also use simpler sequences such as Zuerst habe ich unterschrieben. Dann bin ich eingezogen.
Explain which event happened first without confusing sentence order with event order.
After the initial nachdem-clause, the main verb must precede its subject: bekam ich, not ich bekam. The signing was completed before receiving the key.
Plusquamperfekt: hatte/war + participle. Nachdem ich unterschrieben hatte, zog ich ein. Bevor names the event that comes later.
Describe a move in 80 words: search, viewing, signing and moving in. Use bevor once and nachdem once. Draw a timeline to check that the language matches it.