# Connotative differences between Spanish "cara", "rostro", "haz"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connotative-differences-between-spanish-cara-rostro-haz/713715>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 26, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connotative-differences-between-spanish-cara-rostro-haz/713715 "2015-02-26T21:31:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connotative-differences-between-spanish-cara-rostro-haz/713715/1 "2015-02-26T21:31:53Z")

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I am assuming that while the Spanish words _cara_, _rostro_, and _haz_ are usually translated into Eglish as “face”, their usages in Spanish do not completely overlap.

What are the connotative differences between the three? Are they all usable to mean “the human face” in all contexts, or are there some usages which sound odd to native Spanish speakers (e.g. maybe OK to say “She slapped my_cara_”, but odd to say"I’m washing my _cara_")?

Or is this one of many, many things that break differently in different parts of the Spanish-speaking world?

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**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2015, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/connotative-differences-between-spanish-cara-rostro-haz/713715/2 "2015-02-27T00:28:02Z")

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It’s _faz_, not _haz_.

I’ve said “_lavarme la cara_”. I don’t think I’ve ever paid much attention, but by the dictionary, it seems _rostro_ is more restricted to human faces, while _cara_ can also be used for animal faces.