Avunculus medicam vocat, quia febris puellae alta est et tussis eam dormire impedit.

The main verb is vocat = calls.

So the main clause is:

Avunculus medicam vocat
= The uncle calls the doctor

Everything after quia gives the reason:

quia febris puellae alta est et tussis eam dormire impedit
= because the girl’s fever is high and her cough prevents her from sleeping

So the overall structure is:

• main clause: Avunculus medicam vocat
• reason clause introduced by quia

Avunculus is the subject of vocat, so it must be in the nominative case.

• avunculus = the uncle
• nominative singular masculine

In Latin, the subject of a finite verb is normally nominative.

Because medicam is the direct object of vocat.

• medica = nominative singular, used for the subject
• medicam = accusative singular, used for the direct object

Since the uncle is calling the doctor, the doctor is receiving the action, so Latin uses the accusative:

Avunculus medicam vocat
= The uncle calls the female doctor

Yes. Here medica is being used as a noun meaning female doctor.

It comes from the same word family as medicus = doctor. Latin adjectives are often used substantively, meaning they function like nouns. So:

• medicus = male doctor
• medica = female doctor

In this sentence, medicam clearly means the female doctor.

Quia means because and introduces a clause giving the reason for the action in the main clause.

So:

Avunculus medicam vocat, quia ...
= The uncle calls the doctor, because ...

Everything after quia explains why the uncle calls the doctor.

Also, notice that the verbs after quia are in the indicative: est and impedit. That is normal when the speaker is presenting the reason as a fact.

Here puellae is genitive singular, meaning of the girl or the girl’s.

So:

febris puellae
= the girl’s fever

This form puellae could also be dative singular or nominative plural in other contexts, but here the meaning and grammar show that it is genitive:

• febris = fever
• puellae = of the girl

So the phrase expresses possession.

Alta agrees with febris, not with puellae.

• febris is feminine singular nominative
• alta is feminine singular nominative

So:

febris ... alta est
= the fever is high

Even though puellae comes right before alta, the adjective does not describe the girl. It describes the fever.

This is a very common thing in Latin: you identify agreement by case, number, and gender, not just by position.

In the clause febris puellae alta est, the subject is febris.

That is because:

• febris is nominative singular
• alta is nominative singular and agrees with febris
• est links the subject with the predicate adjective alta

So the clause literally means:

the fever of the girl high is

Or in natural English:

the girl’s fever is high

The subject of impedit is tussis.

So:

tussis eam dormire impedit
= the cough prevents her from sleeping

Here the grammar is:

• tussis = subject, nominative singular
• eam = direct object, accusative singular
• dormire = infinitive, to sleep
• impedit = prevents / hinders

Eam is the accusative singular feminine form of is, ea, id and means her in this sentence.

It refers back to puella, the girl.

So:

tussis eam dormire impedit
= the cough prevents her from sleeping

It is accusative because it is the direct object of impedit: the cough is preventing her.

After impedit, Latin commonly uses an object plus an infinitive.

So:

eam dormire impedit
literally = it prevents her to sleep natural English = it prevents her from sleeping

This is just a difference between Latin and English idiom:

• Latin: impedire + accusative + infinitive
• English: prevent + object + from + -ing

So dormire is not the main verb of a new clause. It is an infinitive that completes the meaning of impedit.

Because Latin does not need one here.

In English, we say:

prevents her from sleeping

But Latin expresses that idea with:

eam dormire impedit

So the sense of from is built into the construction with impedit plus the infinitive. Latin and English often package ideas differently.

Yes. Latin word order is much freer than English word order because case endings show the grammatical relationships.

So Latin can place words for emphasis, rhythm, or style. In this sentence, both verbs appear at the end of their clauses:

• febris puellae alta est
• tussis eam dormire impedit

That is very natural Latin. English usually needs a stricter word order, but Latin does not.

Also notice that related words do not always stand next to each other. For example:

• febris and alta belong together
• puellae is inserted between them

That is completely normal in Latin.

Because the sentence gives a compound explanation.

The uncle calls the doctor because:

• the girl’s fever is high
• and the cough prevents her from sleeping

So the structure after quia is:

1. febris puellae alta est
2. et tussis eam dormire impedit

Both are part of the same reason clause, joined by et = and.