想象 (xiǎng xiàng) — to imagine; to envision | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

想象 is the everyday 'to imagine' — freely picturing scenes, futures, or possibilities in your mind. 构想 is more formal, used for working out a plan or concept, while 空想 flags the thought as unrealistic.

verb

to imagineto envision

Examples

想象？
Nǐ néng xiǎng xiàng yí xià shí nián hòu de shēng huó ma?
Can you imagine what life will be like in ten years?
想象。
Tā xiǎng xiàng zì jǐ yǐ jīng chéng gōng le.
He imagined himself already successful.
想象。
Wǒ hěn nán xiǎng xiàng nà ge dì fāng.
I can hardly imagine that place.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

想 (think) and 象 (image) combine: thinking of images, hence to imagine.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

相心想

Meaning part形符xíngfú

心心xīnheart, mind

Sound part声符shēngfú

相

相xiāng想xiǎng

Same sound today

想 has 心 (heart, mind) below 相 (to look at); the shape shows the mind looking at or considering something, and 相 also gives the sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

象 is drawn as an elephant, with a long trunk, a head, and a big body.

Appears in

HSK 3.0 Level 5 HSK 2.0 Level 5 1000 Most Frequent Chinese Words Thinking & Cognition 2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words 3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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