A key step in applying the Hamiltonian function method is to express the system under consideration into a generalized Hamiltonian system with dissipation, which yields the so-called generalized Hamiltonian realization (GHR). In this paper, we investigate the problem of GHR. Several new methods and the corresponding sufficient conditions are presented. A major result is that if the Jacobian matrix of a time-invariant nonlinear system is nonsingular, the system has a GHR whose structure matrix and Hamiltonian function are given in simple forms. Then the orthogonal decomposition method and a sufficient condition for the feedback dissipative realization are proposed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.