I was told I misused the word respective in the sentence 'If bilingual, please list the respective languages.'
My understanding is that the word points to the prior mentioned subjects. Here's a definition:
respective adjective [ attrib. ] belonging or relating separately to each of two or more people or things : they chatted about their respective childhoods.
So I struggle to see how I used the word incorrectly when the question asked to have the listing of the languages spoken by those who are bilingual. Please explain how I misused it and how I can use it correctly.
Best Answer
Respective designates the one-to-one relationship between the corresponding members of two different sets of things. Thus, in the examples given in the comments to your question:
EDIT:
In your example, however, there is only one set of things, languages, and there is no other set of things to which the languages stand in a one-to-one relationship.