What does respective mean?
Word: Respective
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Respective means belonging to or connected with each of the people or things just mentioned, separately.
Synonyms: own, separate, particular
How do you spell respective?
Syllables: re - spec - tive
Tricky part: It is respect + ive. Students mix it up with respectful and respectable, which mean different things.
Watch out for: respectiv, rispective, respectave
Memory tip: Respective goes with each: each to their respective places. Spell respect, then add ive.
Respective in a sentence
Example 1: After the assembly, the students went back to their respective classrooms.
Example 2: The two sisters are good at their respective sports, chess and badminton.
Example 3: Teams from Brazil and Japan cheered for their respective players.
Fun Fact
Respective, respect and respectful all come from the Latin respicere, 'to look back at' or 'to pay attention to'.
Practise the CREST Way
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
vticepsree
a) respective
b) perspective
c) receptive
d) respectful
Show answer
a) respective. All ten letters must be used: receptive leaves the s over, perspective needs a second p and respectful needs f, u and l.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the incorrectly spelt word:
a) possession
b) respective
c) adress
d) successful
Show answer
c) adress. Address has a double d as well as a double s.
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word: respective
a) joint
b) common
c) individual
d) shared
Show answer
c) individual. Respective means each one's own, which is individual; shared, common and joint mean the opposite.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. 'The players returned to their respective homes' means ____.
a) they went home in the team bus
b) they all went to the captain's home
c) they went home at the same time
d) each went to his or her own home
Show answer
d) each went to his or her own home
2. Which sentence uses respective correctly?
a) He is a respective man, and everyone in town likes him.
b) Please be respective to your elders at all times.
c) She gave a respective smile to the guest at the door.
d) Ravi and Sita won gold and silver in their respective races.
Show answer
d) Ravi and Sita won gold and silver in their respective races.
