Meaning & use
recognize
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
To know who or what someone or something is because you have seen, heard or met them before.
Grammar: Takes an object: I recognized her voice, not I recognized.
Patterns
- recognize someone
- recognize something
- recognize someone by something
I hardly recognized you with short hair.
She recognized the song after two notes.
Dogs can recognize their owners by smell.
verbtransitive
To accept that something is true or important, often after thinking about it.
Grammar: Often followed by a that-clause: recognize that things have changed.
Patterns
- recognize that something
- recognize the need for something
- recognize something as something
The manager recognized that the team needed more help.
We recognize the importance of sleep for learning.
He finally recognized his mistake.
verbtransitiveformal
To give official approval, status or thanks to someone or something.
Grammar: Often passive: the school was recognized as a leader.
Patterns
- recognize someone as something
- be recognized for something
Many countries recognized the new government.
The company recognized her years of service with an award.
The degree is recognized by employers worldwide.
Word forms
| third person singular | recognizes |
|---|---|
| past tense | recognized |
| past participle | recognized |
| -ing form | recognizing |
Common combinations
- instantly recognize
- I instantly recognized his laugh.
- recognize a face
- She could not recognize a single face in the old photo.
- recognize the importance of
- Schools recognize the importance of play.
- officially recognize
- The state officially recognized the group in 2020.
- widely recognized
- She is a widely recognized expert on bees.
- recognize a problem
- The first step is to recognize a problem.
Synonyms and how they differ
- identify
- Means pick out who or what something is, often from evidence, and may apply to something never seen before.
- acknowledge
- Means openly admit or accept the truth of something and is closer to the second sense.
- realize
- Means suddenly understand a fact, while recognize can be a gradual acceptance.
- appreciate
- Means value or understand the worth of something, and is warmer than formal recognition.
Opposites
Word family
- recognition noun
- the act of knowing or acknowledging
- recognizable adjective
- able to be identified
- recognized adjective
- accepted or official
- unrecognizable adjective
- too changed to be identified
- recognizably adverb
- in a way that can be identified
Commonly confused: recognize or realize? recognize or recognise?
recognize vs realize
You realize a fact you did not know before, but you recognize something you have encountered earlier.
recognize vs recognise
This is the British spelling of recognize; both are correct.
Practice
I almost didn't ____ my old teacher; he had grown a long beard.
Choose one answer.
Recognize means identify from previous knowledge, which suits seeing a familiar face changed. Realize does not take a person here and the others change the meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “recognize”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.