dream ⇒ 他幻想成为宇航员。 Tā huànxiǎng chéngwéi yǔhángyuán. → He dreamed of becoming an astronaut.
思想
( 指有体系 ) thought
想头
( 念头 ) idea
想必
presumably ⇒ 他满脸不高兴,想必和老婆吵架了。 Tā mǎnliǎn bù gāoxìng, xiǎngbì hé lǎopo chǎojià le. → He looked totally miserable — presumably he had had an argument with his wife.
想念
miss
想法
opinion
想象
imagine
感想
thoughts pl ⇒ 你对这些评论有何感想? Nǐ duì zhèxiē pínglùn yǒuhé gǎnxiǎng? → Did you have any particular thoughts on these comments?
料想
expect
构想
compose
梦想
dream ⇒ 不奋斗就能成功,简直是梦想! Bù fèndòu jiù néng chénggōng, jiǎnzhí shì mèngxiǎng! → You'd be dreaming to imagine that success can be achieved without a struggle. ⇒ 他梦想着开一家自己的公司。 Tā mèngxiǎngzhe kāi yī jiā zìjǐ de gōngsī. → He dreamed of opening his own company.
猜想
suppose
理想
ideal
着想
consider
空想
fantasize ⇒ 别再空想了。 Bié zài kōngxiǎng le. → Stop fantasizing. ⇒ 这种理论纯粹是一种空想。 Zhè zhǒng lǐlùn chúncuì shì yī zhǒng kōngxiǎng. → This theory is just pure fantasy.
联想
associate
设想
( 想象 ) imagine
遐想
daydream
想当然
take ... for granted ( pt took ) , pp taken ⇒ 事情不是那么简单,不能想当然。 Shìqing bù shì nàme jiǎndān, bùnéng xiǎngdāngrán. → The matter's not that simple; we can't take it for granted.
冥思苦想
be deep in thought
异想天开
have one's head in the clouds
想入非非
take off on a flight of fancy ⇒ 读小说时,她经常想入非非,把自己当成书中的主人公。 Dú xiǎoshuō shí, tā jīngcháng xiǎng rù fēi fēi, bà zìjǐ dāngchéng shū zhōng de zhǔréngōng. → When reading novels, she often takes off on a flight of fancy where she becomes the protagonist in the book.
想方设法
move heaven and earth ⇒ 她遇到困难时,朋友们想方设法帮她解决。 Tā yùdào kùnnan shí, péngyoumen xiǎng fāng shè fǎ bāng tā jiějué. → When she encountered a difficulty, her friends moved heaven and earth to help her.
浮想联翩
many thoughts run through one's mind
痴心妄想
wishful thinking
胡思乱想
let one's imagination go wild
苦思冥想
rack one's brains ⇒ 他苦思冥想了一整天,仍然没有结果。 Tā kǔ sī míng xiǎngle yī zhěng tiān, réngrán méiyǒu jiéguǒ. → He racked his brains for the whole day to no effect.
English translation of '想'
想
(xiǎng)
动
(= 思考) think (pt, pp thought)
⇒ 想办法 (xiǎng bànfǎ) think of a way
⇒ 你帮我想个办法吧! (Nǐ bāng wǒ xiǎng gè bànfǎ ba!) Help me think of a way to do it!
(= 推测) reckon
⇒ 我想他会同意的。 (Wǒ xiǎng tā huì tóngyì de.) I reckon he'll agree.
⇒ 我想今天可能会下雨。 (Wǒ xiǎng jīntiān kěnéng huì xià yǔ.) I reckon it might rain today.
(= 打算) want to
⇒ 我想换个工作。 (Wǒ xiǎng huàn gè gōngzuò.) I want to change jobs.
(= 想念) miss
⇒ 孩子们很想妈妈。 (Háizimen hěn xiǎng māma.) The children miss their mother.
⇒ 刚到这里时,她特别想家。 (Gāng dào zhèlǐ shí, tā tèbié xiǎng jiā.) When she first arrived here she missed home terribly.
In a positive sentence, both 想 (xiǎng) and 要 (yào) can be used to express "want to". To express "I don't want to", it is more commonto use 不想 (bù xiǎng), as the expression 不要 (bù yào) is stronger and indicates a definite decision, meaning "I shall not (under any circumstances)".