Familia e vetere domo demigrat et in insulam commigrat.

In Latin, familia is grammatically singular, just like English family can be singular.

So familia demigrat means the family moves out, not the families move out.

This is a good example of the difference between:

• grammatical number: singular
• real-life meaning: a group of people

Latin treats familia as one unit here.

Familia is nominative singular, and it is the subject of both verbs:

• demigrat
• commigrat

In Latin, the subject is usually in the nominative case. Since familia is nominative, it is the one doing the actions.

So the structure is:

• familia = subject
• demigrat = moves away / moves out
• commigrat = moves into / moves to

E means out of or from.

So e vetere domo means out of the old house or from the old house.

Latin often uses e or ex with the ablative case to show movement out from something.

That is why:

• domo is ablative
• vetere is also ablative, agreeing with domo

Both e and ex mean the same thing: out of / from.

The choice is often based on sound:

• e is commonly used before consonants
• ex is commonly used before vowels or sometimes for emphasis or style

Since vetere begins with a consonant sound, e vetere domo is perfectly normal.

A learner should understand that:

• e domo
• ex domo

can both be correct in many contexts.

Because e requires the ablative case, not the accusative.

Here:

• domo = ablative singular of domus
• vetere = ablative singular of vetus, agreeing with domo

So:

• e vetere domo = out of the old house

If Latin were expressing motion into something, then the accusative would be more likely, as in in insulam later in the sentence.

Because in can take two different cases depending on the meaning:

• in + accusative = motion into or onto
• in + ablative = location in or on

Here there is movement toward the island, so Latin uses the accusative:

• in insulam = into the island or more naturally to the island

Compare:

• in insulam commigrat = the family moves to the island
• in insula habitat = the family lives on the island

Both verbs are about moving, but they focus on different directions or aspects:

• demigrat = moves away, moves out, departs from a place
• commigrat = moves into, moves to, settles in another place

So the sentence shows a two-part movement:

1. the family leaves the old house
2. the family moves to the island

Latin often uses different prefixed verbs to show nuance:

• de- can suggest movement down, away, or off
• com- in commigrare can suggest moving together or relocating to a place

You do not need to force the prefixes into exact English equivalents every time, but they help explain the difference.

Because the same subject, familia, is doing both actions.

Latin does this just as English does:

• The family moves out and moves to the island

So:

• familia is understood with both demigrat and commigrat

There is no need to repeat the noun.

Latin has no articles like English the or a/an.

So familia can mean:

• the family
• a family

and insulam can mean:

• the island
• an island

You decide from the context which English translation is best.

That is very normal in Latin. Learners often want every noun to have a separate word for the, but Latin simply does not work that way.

Both are present tense, third person singular, active voice.

They mean:

• demigrat = he/she/it moves out
• commigrat = he/she/it moves in / moves to

Since the subject is familia, we translate them as:

• the family moves out
• the family moves to the island

Depending on context, a Latin present can sometimes be translated in slightly different ways in English, such as a simple present or even a vivid historical present, but the basic form here is present.

We know because of agreement.

Latin adjectives agree with the nouns they modify in:

• gender
• number
• case

Here:

• domo is singular ablative
• vetere is also singular ablative

So vetere modifies domo: the old house

Even if the word order changed, the matching forms would still help us connect them.

Yes, domo is a real and correct form.

The noun domus is somewhat unusual in Latin because it has a mixed declension pattern. Some of its forms do not behave exactly like a regular second- or fourth-declension noun.

Here, domo is the ablative singular, used after e:

• e domo = out of the house

So even if domus looks unfamiliar, this form is completely standard.

Latin word order is flexible, because case endings show the grammatical relationships.

So this sentence could be rearranged in various ways without changing the basic meaning. For example, Latin could move e vetere domo earlier or later for emphasis.

However, the given order is clear and natural:

• subject first: familia
• then the first movement
• then the second movement

A common beginner mistake is to think Latin word order works exactly like English. It does not. Word endings matter more than position.

Literally, in insulam is into the island, because Latin uses in + accusative for motion into a place.

But English usually says:

• moves to the island
• moves onto the island
• settles on the island

So the most natural translation in English may not match the Latin word-for-word.

This is very common when learning Latin:

• understand the literal structure
• then choose smoother English

Both levels are useful:

• literal: into the island
• natural: to the island