Do you hit someone (or get hit) in the head (leg, arm, etc) or on the head?
Did you hit yourself in the head?
Did you hit yourself on the head?
Would other expressions be more appropriate, when the poor kid bumps his head against something?
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You can say either:
This implies that you hit him on the top of the head, or skull.
This implies that you hit him somewhere in the head, but not necessarily on top. Look at the headline here which uses "hit in the head": http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/offbeat/justin-bieber-hit-in-the-head-with-water-bottle-20100809 |
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I agree with Robusto. You ask for other ways to ask that question. I would naturally say:
Without prepositions, "Hit your head" means roughly the same as "Hit in the head". The difference is that "Hit in the head" means it came from external sources, like someone throwing a ball at you. "Hit your head" just means your head was hit, with no implication of the source / fault. |
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I would always use "on" for a blow to a body part, unless the body part I was literally referring to was an internal organ, or otherwise regarded as interior. So "on the head", "on the arm", "on the back", but "in the kidneys", "in the belly", and "in the crotch". If I heard "hit in the head" I would think first of a gunshot wound rather than a blow. |
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