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I am accustomed to using the word 'respectively' as follows:

Jack and Jill went to the hill and the pharmacy, respectively.

and this is the way I've always seen it being used. Is it correct to use it in the following way too?

Jack and Jill went to two places. Respectively, these were the hill and the pharmacy.

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    If Jack and Jill went to the hill and the pharmacy respectively, then they only went to one place each. So saying "they went to two places" is confusing (but probably not ungrammatical, since if you said "had two cars", assuming they had one each would be perfectly reasonable).
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Sep 21, 2014 at 22:10

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Jack and Jill went to two places. Respectively, these were the hill and the pharmacy.

Um... I am a poet, not a gramophile...

I would have said: ~Jack and Jill went to two places, the hill and the pharmacy respectively.

Um- that is clumsy... repeats...

Jack and Jill went to the hill and the pharmacy respectively.

That sounds right.

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  • So they each went to one place: Jack to the hill and Jill to the pharmacy?
    – Preston
    Commented Sep 22, 2014 at 5:15
  • @Preston Yes. I wonder what Jill bought at the pharmacy and where she went next?
    – WS2
    Commented Jul 8, 2020 at 10:52
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Neither of those are ways in which I would use it, nor have seen it used.

Respectively does not mean 'in that order' in quite that sense.

The way it is frequently used is as: 'Jack and Jill were a boy and a girl respectively' - meaning that 'boy and girl' follows the same order as the names, so the first i.e. the boy, is Jack and the second, the girl, is Jill.

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  • So just to clarify, the following would not be correct usage? Jack and Jill were Molly's children. Respectively, they were male and female.
    – Liam Baker
    Commented Sep 21, 2014 at 19:40
  • @LiamBaker No, that would be perfectly correct usage.
    – WS2
    Commented Sep 21, 2014 at 19:43
  • Because respectively is is the closest match to the German "beziehungsweise", German speakers often place it differently: "Jack and Jill were a boy respectively a girl." I was told that this use is not acceptable in English, but would appreciate your feedback.
    – painfulenglish
    Commented Sep 22, 2014 at 6:49
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    @painfulenglish No, that is not the word order used in English. You could say either 'Jack and Jill are respectively a boy and a girl', or 'Jack and Jill are a boy and girl, respectively'.
    – WS2
    Commented Sep 22, 2014 at 6:58
  • Could you please add a supporting reference so that a later repeat of the question can be CV-d citing this as a duplicate.
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Commented Apr 21, 2020 at 14:44
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Jack and Jill went to the hill and the pharmacy, respectively.

This parses as the equivalent of

Jack went to the hill.

Jill went the pharmacy.

Whereas this

Jack and Jill went to two places. Respectively, these were the hill and the pharmacy.

Is a somewhat unusual use, and I would assume it meant the same as

Jack and Jill went to the hill.

Jack and Jill went to the pharmacy.

The only case I can think where the construct would be used would be for effect, such as:

Jack and Jill went from bad to worse. Respectively, these were Luton and Watford.

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The sentence:

Jack and Jill went to the hill and the pharmacy, respectively.

States that Jack went to the hill and Jill went to the pharmacy. Sentences like "X and Y [verb] A and B respectively" means that X [verb] A and Y [verb B]. This sentence structure is usually used to keep the subjects together instead of "Jack went to the hill and Jill went to the Pharmacy".

If this was not the intended meaning, the sentence is misusing respectively.

The sentence:

Jack and Jill went to two places. Respectively, these were the hill and the pharmacy.

Is just wrong.

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    Nonidiomatic, but surely not wrong. It's perfectly comprehensible to a native speaker.
    – Ernest Friedman-Hill
    Commented Sep 22, 2014 at 14:31

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