verb
1 form a picture of sth in your mind
ADVERB
▪ clearly , easily , readily
▪
I could clearly ~ the scene in the office.
▪ barely , hardly , scarcely ( esp. BrE )
▪
I could hardly ~ living in such a remote and desolate spot.
▪ just
▪
She could just ~ her mother's look of horror.
▪ quite
▪
The sight was disturbing as you can quite ~.
▪ almost
▪
When I think about this story I can almost ~ the look on his face.
▪ ever , possibly
▪
the best guitarist you could possibly ~
▪ fully ( esp. AmE )
▪
I couldn't fully ~ what it could be.
▪ actually
▪
I can't actually ~ her falling for that trick.
▪ always
▪
I always ~d him following in his father's footsteps.
▪ vividly
▪
She had so vividly ~d it time and time again.
VERB + IMAGINE
▪ can
▪
I can well ~ the atmosphere at home at this moment.
▪
There's more at stake here than you can possibly ~.
▪ try to
▪ begin to , start to
▪
I can't even begin to ~ the horrors that they have been through.
▪
I started to ~ what he might say.
▪ dare to
▪
He hardly dared to ~ what else was going to be divulged.
▪ love to
▪
He loved to ~ himself as the hero.
▪ be difficult to , be hard to , be impossible to , be tough to
▪
It is difficult to ~ a world without money.
▪ be absurd to , be far-fetched to
▪ be easy to
▪ be free to
▪
The artist is free to ~ anything she pleases.
PHRASES
▪ let us ~
▪
Let us ~ what really might have happened.
2 see/hear/think sth that is not true/does not exist
ADVERB
▪ really , seriously
▪
You don't seriously ~ I'll agree to that?
▪ almost
▪
I could almost ~ you were jealous.
▪ actually
▪ just , merely , simply
▪
She knew she was simply imagining things.
▪ fondly , naively (both esp. BrE )
▪
I had fondly ~d that riding a mule would be easy.
VERB + IMAGINE
▪ be easy to
PHRASES
▪ be imagining things
▪
Had I really heard a noise, or was I just imagining things?
▪ real and ~d , real or ~d
▪
He was always quick to avenge insults, real or ~d.
Imagine is used with these nouns as the object: ↑ horror , ↑ joy , ↑ scenario , ↑ scene , ↑ shock , ↑ uproar , ↑ world