英语词汇

六个表示 “想像” 、“设想” 动词

嘉中

imagine、conceive of、 fancy、visualize、 envisage、 envision 这组词语都可以表示

“想像”、“设想” 的意思。

imagine 想像、设想; 普通用词，指头脑中对某事物产生个人主观上的想法 (to formor have a

mental picture or idea of something)。接动名词在宾语。

例句：

The task is more difficult than we originally imagined.

这项任务比我们原先想象的要困难。

Some people cannot imagine starting the day without a cup of coffee.

有些人无法想象，不喝一杯咖啡如何开始一天的生活。

Imagine standing at the top of the hill, and what wonderful view you will see.

设想一下你站在山巅，该会见到多么壮丽的景色。

I can hardly imagine Peter sailing across the Atlantic Ocean in five days.

我简直无法想象彼得在五天内横渡大西洋。

They hadn't imagined (= expected) that it would be so difficult.

他们没有想到会这么困难。

Imagine that you're eating ice cream – try to feel how cold it is.

想象你正在吃冰淇淋 —— 试着感受它有多冷。

It was hard for you to imagine how the project was so tough for us.

你很难想象这个项目对我们来说有多困难。

conceive of 动词短语，相当于 imagine 的意思。

例句：

Nowadays, children cannot imagine/conceive of a time when there was no television,

no telephones or no computers.

如今,儿童不能想象没有电视、没有电话、没有电脑的时代

He is a very honest boy. I can’t imagine/conceive of him doing anything disgraceful.

他是一个非常诚实的男孩。我不能想象他会去什么可耻的事。

Half a century ago it's difficult to conceive of travelling to the moon.

半个世纪以前，去月球旅行是很难想象的。

I can not conceive of such cruelty as to take a child away from its mother.

我无法想象把孩子从母亲身边夺走这样残忍的行为。

I can't conceive of anyone wanting to disturb the excellent relationship that has been

build up with our allies.

我不能想象有什么人想要破坏我们与盟友的良好合作关系。

fancy 多指不切合实际的，凭空的想像，也可指一般的相像，表示“揣想”、“想象”。接动名

词作宾语。

例句：

During childhood he always fancied that he would get rich and famous one day.

在童年时代，他总是空想他有一天会福富起来，成为名人。

He seems to fancy that everybody in the office is down on him.

他似乎认总是揣想办公室里所有人都跟他作对。

He fancies himself as a bit of a singer.

他自认为有点像个歌唱家。

I fancied that I saw something moving in the corner.

我好像觉得看见角落里有什么东西在动。

I've never fancied her saying such unkind things about you!

真想不到她竟然对你说了这么不友好的话!

Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl!

想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了, 真是个傻姑娘!

visualize 名词 visual 是“图面”、“图象”的意思，、因此动词 visualize 侧重指在脑海中浮现

出某一图象，引申出“想像”的意思（to imagine or remember someone or something by

forming a picture in your mind）。

例句：

If you don't tell me anything, it is difficult for me to visualize the scene.

如果你什么也不告诉我, 要想象出这个情景很困难。

Today, it is impossible to visualize a world without the Internet.

今天很难设想没有网络的世界。

He described the place and I tried to visualize it.

他把那个地方描绘了一遍，我尝试在心中想象那幅图景。

I can't visualize what this room looked like before it was decorated.

我想象不出这个房间装修前是什么样子

I was so surprised when he turned up before me — I'd visualized that he was

much younger.

他出现在我面前时，我很惊讶 —— 我想象中他要年轻得多。

envisage 和 envision “想像”、“ 设想”、“ 展望”； 想象或期待将来的事情，尤指好事

（to imagine or expect something in the future, especially something good） envisage

多用于英国英语，envision 多用于美国英语。

例句：

The scheme cost a lot more than we had originally envisaged.

这个计划花费的钱比我们原先设想的多得多。

Nobody can envisage the consequences of total nuclear war.

没有人能想像出全面核子战争的后果。

I cannot envisage what the circumstances will be in twenty years' time.

我无法想像二十年后的情况会是怎样。

When do you envisage being able to finish the experiment ?

你设想什么时候能做完这个实验?

The escalating price war in real estate is equivalent to an epidemic one doesn’t

envisage.

不断升级的房地产价格战相当于一场我们想像不到的流行病。

——————

I'm sorry, but Brian is so shy that I just can't envision him as a news anchor.

对不起，布莱恩太害羞了，我无法想象他会成为新闻主播。

We envisioned this problem more complicated as it turned out to be.

我们预想的这个问题比结果要复杂得多。

Fortunately, several analysts envision more constructive possibilities of the project .

幸运的是，一些分析人士认为这个项目有更多建设性的可能性。

Someone sees the end of the world coming as a great disaster, or envision that

man will finally ruin his planet.

有些人把世界末日视作一场大灾难，或想像人类最终会毁掉地球。

Opportunity creators envision a desirable future, set it as a tangible objective, and

strive to achieve it.

机会创造者想象一个理想的未来，将它设为一个具体的目标并努力去实现它。