Question

If you wanted to say:

Now I realize the errors of my ways.

Would it be correct to say?

Ahora realizo del error de mis formas.

Answer

No! That is incorrect.

Realizo can be a false friend. If you want to say you understand or have become aware of something, you actually say:

Ahora me doy cuenta del error de mis formas.

Literally me doy cuenta means something like 'to give myself an account' of something.

Notice me is not the subject, but a reflexive pronoun ('myself'). The subject (Yo) is missing. Doy is the first person singular of dar ('to give'), meaning 'I give.'

However, realizo is not completely a false friend. There is another sense in English where realizo would be an appropriate translation. When you want to say you have realized something in the sense of fulfilling a goal or bring something into being.

You could use realizo to say you have realized your dreams:

Mucha gente me animó a realizar mis ambiciones. (Many people encourage me to fulfill my ambitions.)

Examples

Me doy cuenta:

Me doy cuenta de por qué lo hago. (I realize why I do it.)

Me doy cuenta que el secreto del éxito es la pasión. (I realize the secret of success is passion.)

Me doy cuenta de que tal vez esto contiene una solución. (I realize that maybe these contained a solution.)

Realizar:

Fulfilled: Él realizó todas sus promesas. (He fulfilled all his promises).

Performed: Realizó el trabajo sin ninguna dificultad. (She performed the work without any difficulty.)

Made: El realizó un cambio estructural. (He made a structural change)

Carried Out: Ella realizó una búsqueda sistemática. (She made a systemic search.)

Hasta luego!