Respectivos

Respectivos is an adjective used in Spanish and Portuguese to indicate that something belongs to or corresponds to each member of a group. It is equivalent to the English "respective" and is often used to link items with their own particular counterpart or owner within a set.

Etymology and usage: The term comes from Latin respectivus, related to respectus or respicere, meaning to regard or regard toward. In both languages, respeto agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Therefore, masculine plural forms are respectivos, feminine plural forms are respectivas, and the singular forms are respectivo (masc.) and respectiva (fem.).

Grammar and examples: In Spanish, you would say "los estudiantes y sus respectivos profesores llegaron temprano" (the students and their respective teachers). "Las ciudades y sus respectivas capitales" shows feminine agreement. In Portuguese, the same idea appears with gender agreement, for example "as cidades e as respetivas capitais" or "os países e os respetivos capitais," though precise forms depend on the nouns involved.

Usage notes: Respectivo is commonly used to express a one-to-one correspondence within a set, emphasizing the individuality of each item’s association. The adverb "respectivamente" is related but serves to indicate order in lists, as in "A, B, e C, respectivamente." While similar in meaning, respectivo/adjective and respectivo adverb have distinct syntactic roles.

In summary, respectivos functions as a gender- and number-matching descriptor that clarifies which item relates to which member of a group, and it has close parallels in both Spanish and Portuguese.