Visual Latin | Lesson 20: Captivus?

I received this question:

My 6th grader is working through Visual Latin and really enjoying it, however we are often tripped up on the translation portions. Curious about one thing in lesson 20C. Lot captivus est. – Lot is a captive. This makes sense to us (aside from the article a being in the sentence) based on the -us ending being masculine nominative, indicating a predicate nominative, correct? The next sentence, however, seems trickier. Familia captiva est. It seems like it should be captivus (or captivi) again and a predicate nominative, but instead its following the pattern of an adjective, maybe? Just looking for a little further explanation of why its written this way so I can explain more clearly as I don’t know Latin myself! Thanks so much.

Amy

Here is my reply: 

________________________________________________________________

Almost every Saturday, I send out a Tip of the Week.  The tip of the week is usually something I have picked up along the way that may make your life a little easier.

If you would like to hear from me (almost) every Saturday, just go to the home page of my site and plug in your name and email.   You will also get a free digital copy of my book on learning Latin (and almost anything else).  Just go here: https://dwanethomas.com/ and enter your name and email.

If you want to buy the digital book instead (because you just feel like buying me a cup of coffee) go here: https://dwanethomas.gumroad.com/l/fzixlh

If you are interested in learning Latin, you can go through the classes on my site 24/7.  I recommend the book Lingua Latina by Hans Ørberg.

If you tackle the book and find yourself bogged down, you may find the classes on my site helpful.  To join, just click here: https://dwanethomas.com/join/

If you want a more professionally filmed Latin learning experience, check out the best-selling DVD series: Visual Latin.

Or, if you want to skip Latin, and just jump right into learning English words from Latin and Greek roots, you may enjoy the series Word Up!  Warning.   Word Up! is a bit wacky.  You will learn a lot… but, you may find yourself rolling your eyes, too.

I teach other languages on my site, too.  The current schedule is here: https://dwanethomas.com/schedule/

By the way, some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Not trying to pull a fast one on you. I only promote what I believe in. Not only that, but commissions from affiliate links allow me to continue offering training and books at low prices and sometimes free.