Face

[irmamar]

One of my books says that "face" has the sense of 'reputation' or 'good name'. Could you give me some examples with 'face' having this meaning.

Thanks.

[poli]

Cuando tiene algo de ver con reputación face
tiene que acompañar el verbo to save.

Im order to save face the CEO stated that he needed to resign because
of health reasons.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

I'll venture some:

He was ashamed for behaving so bad with her, but he didn't want to lose face with his friends.
Se avergonzaba de haberse portado tan mal con ella, pero no podía quedar mal con sus amigos.

I participated in the contest because they thought I wouldn't have the courage. It was a matter of face.
Participé en el concurso porque creían que no tenía el valor de hacerlo. Era por mi reputación.

The king sent his people to war because he thought that way he'd keep face before the emperor.
El rey envió a su pueblo a la guerra porque creyó que así mantendría su honor ante el emperador.

[poli]

Angela I think you most commonly we use save face. Other uses of face
when it means reputation sound unusual, but lose face can sometimes be used.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Thank you, Poli.
I wanted to see if I remembered well some sentences I was sure to have seen before.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by poli

Cuando tiene algo de ver con reputación face
tiene que acompañar el verbo to save.

Im In order to save face the CEO stated that he needed to resign because
of health reasons.

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

I'll venture some:

He was ashamed for behaving so bad with her, but he didn't want to lose face with his friends. <--I agree with Poli - I would say "save face" with the rest of the sentence exactly the same.
Se avergonzaba de haberse portado tan mal con ella, pero no podía quedar mal con sus amigos.

I participated in the contest because they thought I wouldn't have the courage. It was a matter of saving face. <--Yes, it would sound weird without "save"...
Participé en el concurso porque creían que no tenía el valor de hacerlo. Era por mi reputación.

The king sent his people to war because he thought that way he'd keep save face before the emperor. <-- same....
El rey envió a su pueblo a la guerra porque creyó que así mantendría su honor ante el emperador.

Watching you guys who are truly fluent in both Spanish and English working on the picky details of English helps me with my Spanish ....

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

Thank you for the corrections, Lou Ann.

So the sentence would sound better like: "He was ashamed for behaving so bad with her, but he wanted to save face with his friends", right?

[pjt33]

Originally Posted by poli

Angela I think you most commonly we use save face. Other uses of face
when it means reputation sound unusual, but lose face can sometimes be used.

In BNC there are slightly more instances of losing face (45) than saving face (37).

In COCA it's 261 saves vs 123 losses.

[laepelba]

Originally Posted by AngelicaDeAlquezar

Thank you for the corrections, Lou Ann.

So the sentence would sound better like: "He was ashamed for behaving so bad with her, but he wanted to save face with his friends", right?

Yes - that is definitely what I would say.

Originally Posted by pjt33

In BNC there are slightly more instances of losing face (45) than saving face (37).

In COCA it's 261 saves vs 123 losses.

I'm not sure if it's a regional usage thing. I have never heard "lose face". Only "save face". I mean, it certainly makes sense to me ... just sounds strange.

[irmamar]

Then, "saving face" and sometimes, "losing face".

Thank you very much.