Stipulatio utrumque obligat.

The subject is stipulatio.

It is in the nominative singular, so it is the thing doing the action. That is why the verb is also singular: obligat.

Also, stipulatio is a third-declension noun, even though its nominative ends in -o.

Obligat is the 3rd person singular present active indicative of obligo, obligare.

So it means binds, obliges, or in legal English something like creates an obligation for.

It is singular because its subject, stipulatio, is singular.

Here utrumque is the direct object of obligat, so it is in the accusative.

In context, it means each of the two or idiomatically both parties.

Formally, utrumque can be an accusative singular masculine form of uterque used substantively, referring to a person.

Because uterque is a word that literally means each of the two.

Latin often expresses the idea of both by using this singular-looking distributive word. So the sentence is very close to:

A stipulation binds each of the two.

In smoother English, that becomes A stipulation binds both parties.

No.

In utrumque, the -que is just part of the whole word uterque. You should learn it as one vocabulary item:

uterque, utraque, utrumque = each of the two, both

So this is not utrum + and.

We know from the cases and from verb agreement.

• stipulatio is nominative, so it is the subject.
• utrumque is accusative, so it is the object.
• obligat is singular and agrees with the singular subject stipulatio.

Latin relies much more on endings like these than on English-style fixed word order.

Because the verb agrees with the subject, not with the object.

The subject is stipulatio, and that is singular. So the verb must be singular: obligat.

Even if the object refers to two people, that does not make the verb plural.

Yes.

Latin often uses adjectives and pronouns substantively, meaning they stand on their own and imply a noun from the context.

So utrumque by itself can mean:

• each of the two
• both
• both parties, if the context is legal

Latin does this very naturally.

Yes, Latin could change the order.

This sentence has a very normal Latin pattern: subject - object - verb, with the verb at the end.

Because the endings already show the grammar, Latin word order is fairly flexible. A different order would usually change the emphasis, not the basic meaning.

So Stipulatio utrumque obligat is a straightforward, neutral way to say it.

You should learn it as:

stipulatio, stipulationis, f.

That tells you:

• nominative singular: stipulatio
• genitive singular: stipulationis
• gender: feminine

The genitive is important because it shows the stem stipulation-, which helps you recognize other forms.