Learn English – “As if I had been hit” vs “As if I was hit”

sentence-construction

First, here's a material that made me keep thinking about this issue in the first place.

http://www.grammaring.com/as-if-as-though

I felt as if I had been hit by a hammer.

I wasn't hit by a hammer, but I had a headache like a person who was hit by a hammer.

I felt as if I was hit by a hammer.

I was hit by something, but I'm not sure what exactly hit my head. Seeing as there was a hammer when I first walked in, I guess it was a hammer that hit my head.

Am I right to think this way? I'm really want to get used to using 'as if' naturally.

Best Answer

The hypothetical "as if" in both examples is sufficient to imply that it might not have actually been a hammer.

But if you are pretty sure it was a hammer, don't use "felt as if"

"I thought {a/the} hammer had hit me."
or "I thought I had been hit by {a/the} hammer." (something hit you, and you believed it was a hammer —THE hammer, if you knew there was one in the room)

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