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Si è svegliato pallido, come se avesse avuto un incubo.

Si è svegliato pallido, come se avesse avuto un incubo.
He woke up pale, as if he had had a nightmare.
From Lesson 323:Unreal past comparisons (come se)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Si è svegliato pallido, come se avesse avuto un incubo.

Why do we use the pluperfect subjunctive (avesse avuto) after come se here?
The phrase come se (as if) introduces a hypothetical situation and always requires the subjunctive. We use the pluperfect subjunctive because the hypothetical event—the nightmare—occurred before the main action of waking up.
What would it mean if we used the imperfect subjunctive (avesse) instead of avesse avuto?
If the sentence said come se avesse un incubo, it would mean "as if he were having a nightmare" right at the exact moment he woke up. Using avesse avuto makes it clear the nightmare was a completed event that happened prior to waking.
Is pallido acting as an adverb here?
No, pallido (pale) is an adjective describing the subject ("he"), not the way he performed the action of waking up. Just like in English ("he woke up pale"), Italian often places adjectives right after verbs of state or change to describe the subject's condition. If the subject were female, it would change to pallida.
A quick refresher: why is the auxiliary verb è used for svegliato?
The verb svegliarsi (to wake up) is reflexive, and all reflexive verbs take essere in compound tenses. Because it uses essere, the ending of the past participle must agree with the subject, which is why it ends in -o for a masculine singular subject.

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