Common mistakes in Spanish: "realizar" does not mean "realize"
The Spanish verb "realizar" means: "carry out", "execute", "conduct", "perform" and sometimes "make", but it does NOT mean "realize" in the sense of understanding or becoming aware of something. The problem of course, is that the words look the same in Spanish and English. Words like these (look similar with different meanings) are called "false cognates". You can see a large collection of them on our main website here: http://www.braser.com/spanish-learning.html (and look for the false cognate section towards the bottom).
So what's the correct way to say "realize"? Answer: the uncomfortable Spanish expression "darse cuenta (de)". I say "uncomfortable" because it's a reflexive verb (which students tend to no like much) and the literal translation doesn't make much sense in English ("give oneself account of"). But here are some examples so that you can see how it's used:
Spanish
1. Salí de la casa pero tuve que volver cuando me di cuenta de que había olvidado las llaves.
2. ¿No te das cuenta de que ella te necesita?
3. Se darán cuenta del problema cuando les demos los resultados.
4. La seguí por el parque pero ella no se dio cuenta.
5. Los alumnos tienen que darse cuenta de que es importante hacer los deberes.
English
1. I left the house but had to go back when I realized that I had forgotten the keys.
2. Don't you realize that she needs you?
3. They'll realize that there's a problem when we give them the results.
4. I followed her through the park but she didn't realize it ( or "she wasn't aware of it").
5. The students have to realize that it's important to do the homework.
Brad
