isya ha netuppoi nara, kyou ha hayame ni nete kudasai to iimasita.

In this sentence, 医者は sets up the doctor as the topic: As for the doctor, he/she said...

So the structure is:

• 医者は = as for the doctor
• 〜と言いました = said ...

This does not mean the doctor is the one who is feverish. It just means the doctor is the person speaking.

If you used 医者が, it would sound more like you are specifically identifying the doctor as the one who said it, often in contrast with someone else.

So here, は is very natural for introducing who said the quoted statement.

No, 熱っぽい does not describe the doctor here.

The sentence means that the doctor said something like:

If you feel feverish, please go to bed early today.

Japanese often leaves out the subject when it is understood from context. So the full idea is closer to:

• （あなたが）熱っぽいなら、今日は早めに寝てください。
• If you feel feverish, please go to bed early today.

Because 医者は is outside the quoted content and followed by と言いました, it is understood as the doctor said..., not the doctor is feverish.

Yes. なら can follow an い-adjective directly.

So:

• 熱っぽい = feverish / feeling like you have a fever
• 熱っぽいなら = if you feel feverish / if that’s the case

This is a very common pattern:

• 忙しいなら、また今度にしましょう。
• If you’re busy, let’s do it another time.

So 熱っぽいなら is grammatically normal.

Not exactly.

• 熱がある = to have a fever
• 熱っぽい = to feel feverish / to seem feverish / to feel like you might have a fever

So 熱っぽい is a little softer and less definite. It often suggests a symptom or sensation rather than a confirmed fever.

That is why it fits well in advice from a doctor: If you’re feeling feverish, go to bed early today.

This は marks today as the topic or time frame.

• 今日は = as for today / today
• 早めに寝てください = please go to bed a bit early

So the sentence focuses specifically on today:

At least for today, please go to bed early.

Japanese can have more than one は in a sentence when different things are being set up as topics or frames. Here:

• 医者は = as for the doctor
• 今日は = as for today

That is completely normal.

早め means somewhat early, a little earlier than usual, or on the early side.

So:

• 早く寝る = go to bed early
• 早めに寝る = go to bed a bit earlier than usual / fairly early

早め often gives a milder, more practical nuance than plain 早く. It sounds like advice to move the timing forward a little, not necessarily to go to bed extremely early.

That makes it very natural in health advice.

Here, 早め is being used adverbially, and に helps turn it into something like early / earlier than usual modifying the verb 寝てください.

So:

• 早め = early side / somewhat early
• 早めに寝る = go to bed a bit early

This is a common pattern:

• 多めに入れる = put in a bit more
• 少なめにする = make it a bit less
• 早めに行く = go a bit early

〜てください is a standard way to make a polite request.

So:

• 寝る = to sleep / go to bed
• 寝て = te-form of 寝る
• 寝てください = please sleep / please go to bed

In this context, it means please go to bed.

Because this is advice from a doctor, 〜てください sounds polite and appropriate.

Here, と marks the content of what was said.

So:

• 熱っぽいなら、今日は早めに寝てください = the thing being said
• と = quotation marker
• 言いました = said

Together:

医者は [熱っぽいなら、今日は早めに寝てください] と言いました。

= The doctor said, If you feel feverish, please go to bed early today.

This と is extremely common with verbs like:

• 言う = say
• 思う = think
• 聞く = ask / hear

Japanese often omits quotation marks in plain sentences when the structure already makes the quotation clear.

The と before 言いました already signals that the preceding part is the quoted content.

So even without punctuation, Japanese readers understand:

• 医者は、
• 熱っぽいなら、今日は早めに寝てください
• と言いました。

In writing, you could also see:

医者は「熱っぽいなら、今日は早めに寝てください」と言いました。

Both are understandable, but using 「 」 makes the quoted part visually clearer.

Yes, it is understandable and mostly natural, but there is one thing learners may notice: the subject inside the quoted advice is omitted.

Japanese often omits subjects, so this is normal:

熱っぽいなら、今日は早めに寝てください。

However, if you want to make the meaning more explicit, you could say:

• 医者は「熱っぽいなら、今日は早めに寝てください」と言いました。
• The doctor said, If you feel feverish, please go to bed early today.

or even:

• 医者は「熱っぽいなら、今日は早めに寝てくださいね」と言いました。

So the original sentence is fine, but adding 「 」 would make it easier to read.

That is the normal Japanese word order.

Japanese usually puts the content first and the reporting verb later:

• A と言いました = said A
• literally: A, [someone] said

So instead of English order:

• The doctor said, ...

Japanese commonly uses:

• The doctor, ..., said

That is why the advice comes before と言いました.

You could break it down that way to understand the grammar, but it is not good natural English.

A more helpful step-by-step breakdown is:

• 医者は = as for the doctor
• 熱っぽいなら = if you feel feverish
• 今日は = today / as for today
• 早めに = a bit early
• 寝てください = please go to bed
• と言いました = said

So the natural English translation is:

The doctor said, If you feel feverish, please go to bed early today.

That is much better than a word-for-word translation.