respective
part of speech
adjective (respective — used only before a noun)
meaning for a pupil
1) Respective means belonging to each one of the people or things just named, in the same order. tree →
2) (formal) «Respectively» (adverb) means «in the order just given». tree →
sense in the lessons
A formal word from exams and maths problems: «Tom and Ann are 8 and 10 respectively» means Tom is 8 and Ann is 10. In everyday writing, «they went to their respective homes» = each went to his or her own home. Phrases: «their respective», «respectively».
examples
- After the party, the children went back to their respective homes. tree →
- Sam and Mia scored 7 and 9 points respectively. tree →
- The two teams sat in their respective changing rooms. tree →
- The boxes weigh 3 kg and 5 kg respectively. tree →
- Each pupil read their respective part of the play. tree →
- Ben and Lily have $12 and $20 respectively; how much do they have together? tree →
- All rose up as if from deep slumber, and went to their respective homes. tree →
note
Formal word. Do not confuse with «respectful» (polite) or «respectable» (decent). In maths, «respectively» matches numbers to names in order: first number to first name, second to second — mixing them up gives a wrong answer.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «respective» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.