face

I have seen volto and faccia used to mean a persons face. Ex. He had a sad look on his face. I thought volto meant to face a direction or someone. Ex. Face the teacher when speaking. Is there a rule to know which to use?

Ciao Mspringer, the two words can both be translated as "face" but they are not interchangeable. You will use "volto" to indicate "countenance" as for example: -cambiare volto (to change face) "La faccia" is used when speaking about the physical part of the body as : -"La guardai in faccia" (I looked her in the face) -Lui ha la faccia rotonda ( he has a roundy face) I hope this helps. All the best for your Italian learning! :)

Sono confusata.... ho pensato che "guardai" vuole dire "I would look" e "ho guardato" vuole dire "I looked".

ciao Colette, "I looked" in Italian can be translate in both ways "ho guardato" and "guardai". If you would like to say "I would look" you will need to say "io guarderei". I hope this helps. :) Buon divertimento !!!

Ah, capisco. Grazie mille!