Deinde familia domum redibit, ubi convivae iam ante ianuam exspectabunt.

Because Latin has a special idiom for motion toward home: it often uses domum by itself, without ad.

So:

• domum redibit = will return home

This is similar to other special expressions of place in Latin, where certain words do not need a preposition in situations where English would use one.

A learner may expect ad domum, but classical Latin normally prefers simply domum for to home / homeward.

Redibit is the 3rd person singular future active indicative of redeo, redire, redii/redivi, reditum = to go back, return.

So it means:

• he/she/it will return

Here it matches familia, which is grammatically singular:

• familia ... redibit = the family will return

In Latin, familia is a singular noun, so it normally takes a singular verb.

That is why Latin says:

• familia redibit

not a plural verb.

English sometimes treats collective nouns differently depending on style, but Latin usually follows the grammatical number of the noun itself.

Here ubi means where and introduces a clause referring back to domum.

So the structure is:

• domum redibit, ubi ... exspectabunt
• will return home, where ... will be waiting

It is acting like a relative adverb of place. It connects the second clause to the place mentioned in the first clause.

In some contexts, yes, ubi can mean when. But here where is clearly the right sense because it refers back to a place: domum.

So in this sentence:

• domum ... ubi ...
• home ... where ...

The nearby place word makes the meaning unambiguous.

Because the sentence is describing two future actions or situations:

• familia domum redibit = the family will return
• convivae ... exspectabunt = the guests will be waiting

Latin often keeps the future in both clauses when both events are viewed as future from the speaker’s point of view.

English may sometimes say where the guests will already be waiting, which matches the Latin very closely.

Here convivae is nominative plural, because it is the subject of exspectabunt.

We can tell from the verb:

• exspectabunt = they will wait
• therefore the subject must be plural

Although convivae could have other meanings in another context, here the plural verb makes its function clear.

Convivae means guests, especially dinner guests or banquet guests.

So it is a more specific word than just any random visitors. It suggests people invited to share a meal or feast.

Because ante is a preposition that takes the accusative when it means before or in front of.

So:

• ante ianuam = in front of the door

That is why the noun appears as ianuam, the accusative singular of ianua.

They are related, but not identical.

• ante ianuam = in front of the door
• ad ianuam = at/to the door

Ante ianuam emphasizes position in front of it.
Ad ianuam is a broader expression and can suggest location at the door or movement toward it.

So ante ianuam exspectabunt gives a more visual sense: the guests are standing there in front of the door waiting.

Iam means already or by now / by then, depending on context.

With the future here, it gives the idea:

• will already be waiting
• will by then be waiting

So it suggests that when the family arrives home, the guests will have gotten there first and will already be outside waiting.

Latin word order is much more flexible than English word order because the endings show the grammatical relationships.

This sentence is arranged naturally for Latin:

• Deinde puts the time marker first: Then
• familia introduces the subject
• domum comes before the verb and highlights the destination
• redibit ends the first clause
• in the second clause, convivae appears early as the subject
• exspectabunt comes at the end, which is very common in Latin

So the order is not random; it is flexible but meaningful. Latin often places important information or the main verb in positions of emphasis.

Yes. Deinde is a simple adverb meaning then, next, or after that.

It often appears near the beginning of the sentence, as it does here, to mark the next event in a sequence.

When translating, English usually also puts it early:

• Then the family will return home...

So its placement here is very natural in both languages.