Nothing is more frustrating than attempting to tell a story in French and getting halfway through, only to hesitate on an anglicism. Maybe you push through and tell the second half ... et après j'ai réalisé ... only to be cut off by a well-meaning French friend wagging their finger.
Tsk tsk. We do not say this in French.
The French language has plenty of words that appear to mean the same thing in English, but really they are 'false friends'. Réaliser is one of them.
The difference between réaliser and se rendre compte
In French, if you want to tell someone, "I realised" (meaning you had a revelation of some sort or became conscious of something), then you should use the reflexive verb se rendre compte que/ de (eg Je me suis rendu compte que j'avais faim, I realised I was hungry).
You might think that if the subject is female, then you conjugate rendue (with an extra 'e'). But the pronoun “se” is actually an indirect object, not a direct one. The true direct object is the noun “compte,” which appears after the verb. In French, a past participle only agrees with a direct object when that direct object comes before the verb. Since “compte” follows the verb, no agreement is made, and the past participle remains unchanged. That’s why the correct form is “elle s’est rendu compte".
Alternatively, you could use the word comprendre (to understand).
As for the verb réaliser - it is defined as making something a reality. You might use réaliser to talk about an accomplishment. For example, J'ai réalisé mon rêve de devenir comédien (I fulfilled my dream of becoming an actor). Although this sense of the word does exist in English, it's unusual and somewhat archaic - in French it's an everyday word.
You might use it to reference executing something, like a task, or creating something, like a piece of music.
You have probably heard of the word réalisateur (film director). In cinema and television, you can use réaliser to describe the process of bringing a script to the big screen.
All of this said, you might still hear the occasional French speaker, especially a young person, use réaliser to mean they've just recognised something. You might even see it in an old French book from the turn of the century, as apparently it was popular to use réaliser in the English sense at that time.
The sages' opinion
The Académie Française has even taken this up. In a 2018 article, the guardians of the French language wrote, "Excellent authors such as Charles Baudelaire, André Gide and François Mauriac have sometimes given the verb réaliser the meaning of 'accepting something as real in one's mind'".
They gave the example of the line: Il ne réalise pas encore pleinement sa perte (He does not yet realise his loss).
They went on: "While this usage cannot be considered incorrect, the misuse of the verb réaliser in the weaker sense of 'to realise' is an Anglicism that should be avoided. Thus, we would not say Il a réalisé qu’il devait partir, but instead we should say Il s’est aperçu, il a compris qu’il devait partir (He understood it was time to leave).
Then, they gave a few examples of what one should and should not say if they want to speak French properly.
You should not say;
- Il n'a pas réalisé que le monde avait changé
- Quand allez-vous réaliser qu'il est temps de vous mettre au travail
Instead, you should say;
- Il ne s'est pas rendu compte que le monde avait changé (He didn't realise that the world had changed.)
- Quand allez-vous comprendre qu'il est temps de vous mettre au travail? (When are you going to understand that it's time to get to work?)
Grammar tips
From agreeing adjectives to the subjunctive, French grammar can be fiendishly - some claim deliberately - complicated and almost all French learners have at one point despaired over ever getting it right.
People learn languages in different ways - some people prefer to just throw themselves into chatting, others like to have a textbook and some exercises. But the formal and structured nature of the French language means that if you want to become fluent - and if you need written French - then you are going to have to learn some grammar.
That's the purpose of our weekly series of French grammar tips and tricks - and you can also sign up to receive them as a newsletter.
The tips are not intended as a substitute for formal classes or sweating over those verb tables (sadly, those are necessary for most people), but may be of some help to language learners.
They come from our own experiences of living and working in France, and as with our popular French Word of the Day feature, we've tried to focus on examples that will be useful in everyday life.
Read more French grammar tips
- French grammar tips: How to say either and neither in French
- French grammar tips: Avoir versus être
- French grammar tips: When to use 'grand' and 'gros'
- French grammar tips: The difference between c'est and il est
- French grammar tip: How to use 'gens' and 'personnes'
- French grammar tips: Mastering prepositions of place
- French grammar tips: All of the uses of the word 'droit'
- French grammar tips: Look out for the accent
- French grammar tips: Cheat the future
- Guessing the gender of nouns
- The cheat's guide to the subjunctive
- Understanding French place names
- Getting the date and time right
- Pay attention to your French friend's English mistakes
Which French grammar rules do you find most confusing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Emma Pearson
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