respektive

Respektive is a German adverb meaning correspondingly or respectively. It is used to indicate that items in two or more parallel lists match by position: the first item with the first, the second with the second, and so on. The word clarifies which element belongs to which counterpart in the paired sets, providing precise cross-referencing in a compact form.

Etymology and use: Respektive derives from Latin respectivus and has been part of standard German style since the 18th or 19th century. It is common in formal, scientific, legal, and technical writing, but also appears in journalism and official documents. In translations it is typically rendered as “respectively.”

Usage notes: Respektive is usually placed between the paired lists or immediately after the items it connects, to mark the corresponding positions. It typically accompanies two or more equal-length lists. A common example is: “Die Kosten betragen 100, 200 und 300 Euro, respektive 50, 100 und 150 Euro.” The term is related to, but more precise than, beziehungsweise and differs from jeweils in its explicit pairing function. Respektive emphasizes the positional correspondence, whereas jeweils can mean “in each case” without a strict cross-link, and beziehungsweise often signals alternatives or a clarifying reformulation.

See also: jeweils, beides, beziehungsweise. These terms overlap in nuance but serve different needs in structuring information and guiding the reader through linked elements in text.