Syntax

Syntactic actants

Actant 1: whose body it is
(a) Genitive
(b) Possessive
Тело Маши было коричневое от загара. Masha's body was brown from the sun.
Его тело напряглось. His body tensed.
NB When the word тело functions as a subject and does not have a descriptive modifier, the construction тело у + Genitive is often preferred to (a) and (b), above:
Тело у Маши было коричневое от загара. Masha's body was brown from the sun.