קודם אני בודק את הכתובת, ואחר כך אני יוצא מהבית.

They’re related, but they do slightly different jobs:

• קודם = first, before that, at first
• אחר כך = after that, afterwards, then

So the sentence is structured as:

• קודם אני בודק את הכתובת
  = First I check the address
• ואחר כך אני יוצא מהבית
  = and then / after that I leave the house

Using both makes the sequence very clear and natural.

Hebrew often repeats the subject pronoun when there are two separate actions:

• קודם אני בודק...
• ואחר כך אני יוצא...

In English, we might sometimes say First I check the address, and then leave the house, but in Hebrew, repeating אני sounds clear and natural.

Also, in the present tense, Hebrew verb forms often do not clearly show the person by themselves, so pronouns like אני are commonly included.

Yes. In modern Hebrew, the present tense uses forms that are historically participles, so:

• בודק = checking / check
• יוצא = going out / leave

With אני, the meaning is:

• אני בודק = I check / I am checking
• אני יוצא = I leave / I am leaving / I go out

Hebrew present tense does not distinguish as sharply as English between I check and I am checking. Context tells you which is meant.

The forms בודק and יוצא are masculine singular.

So a male speaker says:

• אני בודק
• אני יוצא

A female speaker would say:

• אני בודקת
• אני יוצאת

So the full sentence for a female speaker would be:

קודם אני בודקת את הכתובת, ואחר כך אני יוצאת מהבית.

את is the Hebrew direct object marker. It appears before a definite direct object.

Here:

• הכתובת = the address
• because it is definite (the address), Hebrew uses את

So:

• אני בודק את הכתובת = I check the address

Important: את is usually not translated into English.

Compare:

• אני בודק כתובת = I check an address
• אני בודק את הכתובת = I check the address

The prefix ה־ means the.

So:

• כתובת = an address / address
• הכתובת = the address

Since the sentence is talking about a specific address, Hebrew uses הכתובת.

And because it’s definite, it also takes את:

• את הכתובת

מהבית means from the house or out of the house / home.

It is made from:

• מ־ = from
• הבית = the house / the home

Together:

• מ + הבית = מהבית

In this sentence, יוצא מהבית means go out of the house or leave home.

Very often הבית can mean not just the house physically, but home.

Because the verb לצאת means to go out / to leave, and it normally takes a preposition meaning from / out of.

So Hebrew says:

• יוצא מהבית = goes out of the house
• literally: goes out from the house

You need the מ־ idea here. Without it, the phrase would be ungrammatical.

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but some versions sound more natural than others.

The given sentence:

• קודם אני בודק את הכתובת, ואחר כך אני יוצא מהבית.

is very natural.

You may also hear:

• אני קודם בודק את הכתובת, ואחר כך אני יוצא מהבית.

That is possible too, but קודם אני... often sounds a bit smoother when emphasizing sequence.

So the sentence is not rigidly fixed word-for-word, but the version you were given is a very standard and natural one.

The ו־ means and.

So:

• אחר כך = after that / afterwards / then
• ואחר כך = and then / and afterwards

This is very common in Hebrew when linking two actions in sequence:

• ..., ואחר כך ...
• ..., and then ...

All of those can work depending on context.

• לצאת basically means to go out or to leave
• יוצא מהבית can mean:
  • I leave the house
  • I go out of the house
  • I head out from home

In this sentence, leave the house or go out of the house are both good translations.

In the given sentence, everything is in the present tense:

• אני בודק = I check / am checking
• אני יוצא = I leave / am leaving

If you wanted past:

• קודם בדקתי את הכתובת, ואחר כך יצאתי מהבית.
• First I checked the address, and then I left the house.

If you wanted future:

• קודם אבדוק את הכתובת, ואחר כך אצא מהבית.
• First I’ll check the address, and then I’ll leave the house.

So Hebrew changes the verb forms quite a bit in past and future, but the sequencing words קודם and אחר כך can stay the same.

A simple pronunciation guide would be:

Kódem aní bodék et ha-ketóvet, ve-akhar kakh aní yotsé meha-báyit.

A few notes:

• קודם = KÓ-dem
• אני = a-NÍ
• בודק = bo-DÉK
• הכתובת = ha-ke-TÓ-vet
• אחר כך = a-KHAR kakh
• יוצא = yo-TSÉ
• מהבית = me-ha-BÁ-yit

Pronunciation varies a little by speaker and accent, but this will be understood well.