想象

xiǎngxiàng

verb HSK 4 #749

Meanings

The character 象 originally meant "elephant" — the biggest, most vivid image in the ancient Chinese world. So 想象 is literally "thinking of images."

Wǒ wúfǎ xiǎngxiàng nà zhǒng shēnghuó.

I can't imagine that kind of life.

Tā de xiǎngxiànglì hěn fēngfù.

She has a rich imagination.

Nǐ xiǎngxiàng yīxià wèilái de chéngshì.

Imagine the city of the future.

usage

想象力 (xiǎngxiànglì) adds 力 (power/ability) to mean "imagination" as a capacity.

grammar

Often used with 无法 (unable to) or 难以 (hard to): 难以想象 means "hard to imagine."

想 xiǎng

象 xiàng