The following is the sentence I am writing: "Perhaps, he trembles at the sight of this act not solely for the fear of exposure but because he is realized of the horridness of his actions." What I am trying to say is that he becomes aware of how bad his actions were, but I want to write it in the aforementioned way, instead of saying something such as "he realized the horridness...". Is this an acceptable way to use "realized"?
1 Answer
No, the tenses don't agree.
"Realized" is past tense, while "is" is present tense. As such, using them together breaks the tense agreement. Instead, you should use a construct like "he is realizing", "he has realized", "he realized", et cetera. In this particular case, from the context of the surrounding sentences, "he is realizing" seems like the correct tense to choose, since the surrounding phrases are also in the present tense.
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1I don't think that OP is using "realized" as a finite verb; I think that he means to use it as a past participle, so that it is untensed. Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 5:42
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@MarcInManhattan would it be valid, then, to use it as such? I have read works in the past that have used it in the manner that I am trying to, which is why I thought it acceptable. Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 5:44
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1I have never heard it used in that way, and I'd advise against it (unless it is common in some dialect and you are writing specifically for that audience). You could write "has realized the horridness...", "has come to realize the horridness...", "has become aware of the horridness...", etc. Commented Dec 22, 2021 at 5:48