「夢(ゆめ)」 is DREAM and was derived from 「寝目(いめ)」. 「寝(イ)」 is to sleep; 「目(メ)」 an eye or to see. So 寝目 or イメ meant what you saw while you’re asleep. Later the sound changed to ユメ and the kanji 「夢」 has been used to mean DREAM
Let’s see some DREAM expressions here.
「夢(ゆめ)を見る(みる)･夢見る(ゆめみる)」
Similar to the English ‘dream,’ these phrases have two meanings:
1. To dream while you’re asleep.
2. To dream something that you want very much to happen.
However, 夢(ゆめ)を見る(みる) is used to mean ‘dream while you’re asleep’ more often, whereas 夢見る(ゆめみる) is to mostly mean ‘dream something that you want to happen.’
「昨日(きのう)の夜(よる)、今(いま)まで見た(みた)ことがないような変(へん)な夢(ゆめ)を見た(みた)んだ。」
Last night I had the strangest dream I ever dreamed before.
(The English is from a song of Simon and Garfunkel.)
「子供(こども)が悪い(わるい)夢(ゆめ)を見て(みて)怖が(こわが)った。」
The child was frightened by a bad dream.
「彼女(かのじょ)は自分(じぶん)の事業(じぎょう)を営む(いとなむ)ことを夢見て(ゆめみて)いる。」
She dreams of running her own business.
For the latter meaning, 「夢(ゆめ)を持つ(もつ)」 or 「夢(ゆめ)がある」 is also used commonly.
「彼女(かのじょ)は風車(ふうしゃ)に暮らす(くらす)というロマンチクな夢(ゆめ)を持って(もって)いた。」
She had this romantic dream of living in a windmill.
「彼女(かのじょ)には歌手(かしゅ)になるという大きな(おおきな)夢(ゆめ)があった。」
Her biggest dream was to become a singer.
「夢(ゆめ)のまた夢(ゆめ)」 is an impossible dream; a wish which seems so hard to get; or a distant dream, like a dream of dreams.
「世界(せかい)を旅行(りょこう)するなどという彼(かれ)の計画(けいかく)は、今(いま)では夢(ゆめ)のまた夢(ゆめ)のように見えた(みえた)。」
His plans to travel the world now seemed like a distant dream.
「和平(わへい)は今(いま)や夢(ゆめ)のまた夢(ゆめ)ではないように思えた(おもえた)。」
Peace no longer seemed an impossible dream.
「夢(ゆめ)のような話(はなし)」 is a hope or plan that is impossible to achieve or not practical.
「彼(かれ)は夢(ゆめ)のような話(はなし)を追って(おって)暮らし(くらし)ていた。」
He spent his life chasing pipe dreams.
「夢(ゆめ)が破れる(やぶれる)」 is to crush or shatter a dream.
「怪我(けが)をしたため、彼女(かのじょ)のオリンピック(おりんぴっく)に出る(でる)という夢(ゆめ)が破れた(やぶれた)。」
The injury shattered her dream of running in the Olympics.
「夢(ゆめ)から覚める(さめる)」 is to awake from a dream.
「ドアの音(おと)で夢(ゆめ)から覚めた(さめた)。」
I was awoken from my dream by a knock at the door.
「夢(ゆめ)を追う(おう)」 is to chase, follow, or pursue a dream.
「レストランを開く(ひらく)という夢(ゆめ)を追って(おって)、彼(かれ)は会社(かいしゃ)を辞めた(やめた)。」
He left his job to pursue his dream of opening a restaurant.
「夢(ゆめ)が叶う(かなう)･夢(ゆめ)を叶える(かなえる)」 is to achieve, fulfill, or realize a dream.
「ついに彼(かれ)の夢(ゆめ)が叶った(かなった)。」
At last his dreams were fulfilled.
「国(くに)を統一(とういつ)するという夢(ゆめ)を叶える(かなえる)ため、彼(かれ)はあらゆる努力(どりょく)をした。」
He put all his efforts into making his dream of a united country come true.
「夢にも(ゆめにも)思わない(おもわない)」 is to never dream something.
「そこで本当(ほんとう)に働く(はたらく)ことになるとは夢にも(ゆめにも)思わなかった(おもわなかった)。」
I never dreamed I’d actually get the job.
「君(きみ)と一緒(いっしょ)に行かない(いかない)などとは夢にも(ゆめにも)思って(おもって)いない。」
I wouldn’t dream of going without you.
「悪夢(あくむ)･悪い(わるい)夢(ゆめ)」 is a nightmare or a bad dream.
「彼(かれ)は事故(じこ)の悪夢(あくむ)をいまだに見る(みる)。」
He still has nightmares about the accident.
「本件(ほんけん)を前(まえ)に進めれば(すすめれば)悪夢(あくむ)が待って(まって)いるだろう。」
If it goes ahead, it will be the nightmare scenario.
「船(ふね)が沈み始める(しずみはじめる)と、彼ら(かれら)の夢(ゆめ)は悪夢(あくむ)に変わった(かわった)。」
Their dream turned into a nightmare as the ship began to sink.
「無我夢中(むがむちゅう)」 is used for a situation where you do something so earnestly or hard and as if unconsciously that you can’t see anything around you.
無我(むが) is to forget about yourself; 夢中(むちゅう) is to be crazy about something.
「無我夢中(むがむちゅう)で逃げた(にげた)。」
I ran away for my life.
「チームは11(じゅういち)月(がつ)の締め切り(しめきり)に向けて(むけて)、無我夢中(むがむちゅう)で働いた(はたらいた)。」
The team worked feverishly to the November deadline.
「同床異夢(どうしょういむ)」 describes a situation where your friend or partner has other dreams than you.
They cooperate with each other and seem to want the same future to come. However, they have different dreams or think in a different way actually.
同床(どうしょう) is the same floor; 異夢(いむ) is a different dream. Even if we and our partners stay (or sleep) on the same floor, we have different dreams. So many people, so many minds.
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