Syntax

Syntactic actants

Actant 1: whose face it is
(a) Genitive
(b) Possessive
Мне бросилось в глаза заплаканное лицо Наташи. I was struck by the sight of Natasha's tear-stained face.
Лицо её было заплакано. Her face was stained with tears.
NB When the word лицо functions as a subject and does not have a descriptive modifier, the construction лицо у + Genitive is often preferred to (a) and (b), above:
Лицо у Наташи было заплакано. Natasha's face was stained with tears.