réalisezvsréalisteWhich spelling fits?

Quick tell: réalisez is a verb, réaliste is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“réalisez” is a verb and “réaliste” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,553
“réalisez” frequency rank
#6,133
“réaliste” frequency rank
23686
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature réalisez réaliste
Definition Deuxième personne du pluriel du présent de l’indicatif de réaliser. Qui concerne le réalisme, aux divers sens de ce mot.

Where the eye mixes réalisez and réaliste

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 7 letters in sequence. réalisez (CVVCVCVC) and réaliste (CVVCVCCV) run the same length but a different consonant-vowel pattern - the shape difference is usually the fastest tell.

8 ch
réalisez
8 ch
réaliste

Visual trap between réalisez and réaliste

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: réalisez is \ʁe.a.li.ze\ while réaliste is \ʁe.a.list\. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 23686, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

réalisez is recorded at frequency rank #17,553, classified as averb, pronounced \ʁe.a.li.ze\. réaliste is at rank #6,133, tagged as anadj, pronounced \ʁe.a.list\.

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 23686, this pair ranks #351,020 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of réalisez vs réaliste

Shared letters: aeilrsé. Private to "réalisez": z. Private to "réaliste": t.

"réalisez" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCVC  ·  "réaliste" · 8 letters · shape CVVCVCCV

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "réalisez" and "réaliste" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "réalisez" is a verb and "réaliste" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
In ordinary French text, does "réalisez" or "réaliste" show up more?
"réaliste" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #6,133 in our French list, against #17,553 for "réalisez". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Eye-level mix-up between "réalisez" and "réaliste" is sorted above. Next: full entries or other pairs that share a letter shape.

  • Full dictionary entry for "réalisez" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "réaliste" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #351,020 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "réalisez" and "réaliste" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "réalisez vs réduisez". Nearby pair

Confusion rank #351,020 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list