Si vespa puellam pungit, aqua frigida statim adhibetur.

Because puellam is the direct object of pungit.

• vespa = the wasp, the thing doing the action
• pungit = stings
• puellam = the girl, the one receiving the action

In Latin, a feminine first-declension noun like puella changes to puellam in the accusative singular, which is the case used for a direct object.

So:

• puella = girl, as subject
• puellam = girl, as object

Because vespa is the subject of pungit.

The subject of a Latin sentence usually stands in the nominative case. For a first-declension noun like vespa, the nominative singular is simply vespa.

So here:

• vespa = the wasp does the stinging
• puellam = the girl is stung

That contrast between -a and -am is one of the basic ways Latin shows who is doing what to whom.

Because aqua frigida is the subject of the verb adhibetur.

The second part of the sentence is passive:

• adhibetur = is applied

So the thing being applied, cold water, becomes the subject in Latin:

• aqua frigida = cold water
• adhibetur = is applied

If the sentence were active, you might expect a person doing the applying and aquam frigidam as the object. But in this passive sentence, cold water is the subject, so it stays in the nominative:

• aqua frigida = nominative singular

Also note that frigida agrees with aqua in gender, number, and case.

Adhibetur is a third-person singular present passive verb form from adhibeo, adhibere.

It means:

• is applied
• or more literally, is brought to / is used / is employed

Breaking it down:

• adhibe- = verb stem
• -tur = passive ending for he/she/it is ...-ed

So adhibetur means it is applied or it is used.

In this sentence, the subject is aqua frigida, so: aqua frigida adhibetur = cold water is applied.

Because in Latin, the verb ending already includes the idea of is.

In English:

• is applied

In Latin:

• adhibetur

That one word already means he/she/it is applied.

This is very common in Latin. Verb endings carry information about:

• person
• number
• voice
• tense

So you do not need a separate word like English is.

Because this sentence expresses a general condition or general rule.

Si vespa puellam pungit does not necessarily mean one single specific event happening right now. It means something like:

• if a wasp stings a girl
• whenever a wasp stings a girl

Latin often uses the present indicative in this kind of practical, general statement.

So the sentence is not about one unique moment only; it sounds like advice or a rule of first aid.

Because this is a straightforward real condition, not a hypothetical or contrary-to-fact one.

Here the speaker is simply saying:

• if this happens, this is what is done

That kind of condition normally uses si + indicative in Latin.

So:

• si vespa puellam pungit = if a wasp stings a girl
• aqua frigida statim adhibetur = cold water is applied at once

A subjunctive would suggest a different nuance, such as a more imagined, less direct, or differently framed condition. But this sentence is plain and factual.

Its basic meaning is if, but in a sentence like this it can feel a bit like whenever.

Because the sentence expresses a general truth or routine response, English might naturally understand it as:

• If a wasp stings a girl, cold water is applied immediately
• or Whenever a wasp stings a girl, cold water is applied immediately

Latin si still means if, but the overall sense can be general and repeated.

Classical Latin has no articles.

So Latin does not usually have separate words corresponding exactly to English:

• a / an
• the

That means:

• vespa can mean a wasp or the wasp
• puellam can mean a girl or the girl
• aqua frigida can mean cold water or the cold water

You decide from the context what sounds best in English.

Yes, quite freely.

Latin relies much more on case endings than on word order. So these all keep basically the same meaning:

• Si vespa puellam pungit, aqua frigida statim adhibetur.
• Si puellam vespa pungit, aqua frigida statim adhibetur.
• Aqua frigida statim adhibetur, si vespa puellam pungit.

The endings show the grammatical roles:

• vespa = subject of pungit
• puellam = object of pungit
• aqua frigida = subject of adhibetur

That said, the original order is natural and clear. Latin authors often move words around for emphasis, style, or rhythm.

Because adjectives in Latin often come after the noun they describe, though they can also come before it.

So:

• aqua frigida = cold water

The important thing is not position but agreement.
Frigida matches aqua in:

• gender: feminine
• number: singular
• case: nominative

You could also see frigida aqua in Latin. Both are possible.

Because it agrees with aqua in form.

• aqua = feminine singular nominative
• frigida = feminine singular nominative

That matching tells you they go together.

This agreement system is one of the main ways Latin signals which adjective modifies which noun.

Pungit is third-person singular present active indicative from pungo, pungere.

It means:

• he/she/it stings

Here the subject is vespa, which is singular, so the singular verb is used:

• vespa pungit = the wasp stings

If the subject were plural, the verb would change:

• vespae pungunt = the wasps sting

No. It is grammatically feminine because vespa is a feminine noun in Latin.

Grammatical gender in Latin does not always match biological sex. Sometimes it does, sometimes it does not matter.

So in this sentence, vespa is feminine grammatically, and that affects adjective agreement if an adjective were used with it. But the sentence is not necessarily telling you anything about the wasp’s actual sex.

Statim is an adverb meaning:

• immediately
• at once
• right away

It modifies adhibetur:

• aqua frigida statim adhibetur = cold water is applied immediately

Its position is flexible, but here it sits naturally before the verb.

It contains both:

1. Si vespa puellam pungit
   This is active:

   • vespa does the action
   • puellam receives it

2. aqua frigida statim adhibetur
   This is passive:

   • cold water is the thing being applied

So the sentence moves from an active condition to a passive result or response.

Yes. Latin could have used an active construction with an understood or named person doing the applying.

For example, an active version would be something like:

• medicus aquam frigidam statim adhibet = the doctor applies cold water immediately

But the passive adhibetur is very natural when the focus is on what treatment is used, not on who uses it.

That is why the passive works well in instructions, medical advice, and general statements.