TO REALISE / TO REALIZE

1 2

Share on Facebook

Albinario111

#439058 Mon, 05 Nov 07 04:17 PM

Hi everyone. What is the correct spelling? To realise or to realize? I've seen them both.

Albinario111

Joined on Mon, Nov 5 2007

New Member (01)

Yoong Liat

#439059 Mon, 05 Nov 07 04:25 PM

Albinario111 wrote:
Hi everyone. What is the correct spelling? To realise or to realize? I've seen them both.

Both are correct.

Many years ago, 'realise' was the BrE version. However, 'realize' is now also correct in BrE; 'realize' is the only correct form in AmE.

Yoong Liat

Joined on Mon, Sep 4 2006

Singapore

Veteran Member (6,084)

Yoong Liat

Terryxpress

#439129 Mon, 05 Nov 07 07:29 PM

Sorry Yoong Liat, but "realise" is not correct. You may see words such as organize written as "organise", but this also is incorrect. Just as people will also mispronounce words. The most recent, and really grating, is people on TV sounding so serious and intelligent, and then saying CON-trib-ute,instead of con-TRIB-ute. The noun is CON-tri-BU-tion, but the verb is con-TRIB-ute.

Terryxpress

Joined on Mon, Nov 5 2007

Scotland

New Member (29)

Verbs, Nouns

Marius Hancu

#439149 Mon, 05 Nov 07 07:48 PM

Seems a variant, mentioned in this dictionary:
----
Main Entry:re·al·ise
Pronunciation:like REALIZE
chiefly Britain
variant ofREALIZE

http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com
-------

Marius Hancu

Joined on Wed, Apr 26 2006

Montreal, Canada

Veteran Member (11,673)

Pronunciation

Anonymous

#439391 Tue, 06 Nov 07 08:57 AM

Regrettably, one of the ways in which British grammar and spelling has changed over the centuries is because mistakes in grammar or spelling have become so common, that they are accepted as a variant. I shudder to think that soon, CON-tribute will also be regarded as "acceptably"!!!
As I see it, if they are learning English for the first time, let's teach them the spelling and pronunciation one would hear at Buckingham Palace! (lol) (but I also mean it)
Terry

Anonymous

Grammar, Spelling, Learning English, Pronunciation

Cool Breeze

#439405 Tue, 06 Nov 07 10:18 AM

Anonymous wrote:
Regrettably, one of the ways in which British grammar and spelling has changed over the centuries is because mistakes in grammar or spelling have become so common, that they are accepted as a variant.

Realise derives from the French réaliser, which wasn't spelled with a z. It entered the English language in the early 17th century and meant "to bring into existence". If we want to get rid of the changes realise has undergone, realize must be considered incorrect and the meaning 'to understand' is also wrong as realise didn't have that meaning in those early days.

In your view English is spoiled if it changes. Perhaps it would be wise to consider realise altogether wrong because it wasn't used in Old English. Actually all of Modern English is hopelessly incorrect since only a handful of modern words existed 1200 years ago in their present form and meaning. Smile [:)]

Cool Breeze

Joined on Fri, Apr 7 2006

Helsinki, Finland

Senior Member (2,954)

The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.- Mark Twain

Grammar, Spelling

Yoong Liat

#439486 Tue, 06 Nov 07 02:37 PM

Terryxpress wrote:
Sorry Yoong Liat, but "realise" is not correct. You may see words such as organize written as "organise", but this also is incorrect. Just as people will also mispronounce words. The most recent, and really grating, is people on TV sounding so serious and intelligent, and then saying CON-trib-ute,instead of con-TRIB-ute. The noun is CON-tri-BU-tion, but the verb is con-TRIB-ute.

Hi Terry

Don't say things without referring to any source, especially a dictionary in this case.

realize (also realise) Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
organize (also organise) Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

You're misleading members who are not weak in English.

Yoong Liat

Verbs, Nouns

Anonymous

#529965 Fri, 20 Jun 08 09:43 AM

Actually folks, you are confusing a variation in British spelling with the variation between British and American English. The -ize ending is a variant of British English spelling preferred by the Oxford University Press (and I believe until recent years by The Times). Hence it appears as the first choic in the OALD mentioned in an earlier post. The whole issue is summarised in Wikipedia under "Oxford Spelling".

Anonymous