想像

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 想像 (そうぞう) is an action noun, used with する, for forming a mental image of an unseen appearance or scale.
• Basic usage: 町の姿を想像した is a completed act of picturing a future city, while 広さを想像できない is a negative potential saying a photograph is insufficient to grasp the site’s scale.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Imagined object and ability
  • Both 姿を想像する and 広さを想像する mark the mental content with を. 想像できない denies ability or sufficient basis, not a past fact that no imagining occurred.