--- description: Most of us can distinguish the subtle difference between sadly fearful and sadly surprised title: QUIZ: How Well Can You Read Expressions? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [emotions](/tag/emotions/) ## emotions Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # QUIZ: How Well Can You Read Expressions?  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 2, 2014 1:09 PM CUT  by [Alice Park](/author/alice-park/)  ## Alice Park Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Apr 2, 2014 1:09 PM CUT Scientists have long believed that there are six major ways we express emotion on our faces, but the[ latest study](http://time.com/43758/human-faces-can-express-at-least-21-distinct-emotions/ "undefined") shows we readily make, and recognize, up to 21 distinct expressions. Test your skill in figuring out the feeling behind these faces. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/44381/quiz-how-well-can-you-read-expressions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/44381/quiz-how-well-can-you-read-expressions/"},"headline":"QUIZ: How Well Can You Read Expressions?","datePublished":"2014-04-02T13:09:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:03:38.299Z","description":"Most of us can distinguish the subtle difference between sadly fearful and sadly surprised","url":"https://time.com/44381/quiz-how-well-can-you-read-expressions/","keywords":["emotions","quiz"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alice Park","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/alice-park/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/emotions/","name":"emotions"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/44381/quiz-how-well-can-you-read-expressions/","name":"QUIZ: How Well Can You Read Expressions?"}}]}] ```