Quote:
Originally Posted by YuriTokoro
Could you tell me this?
Which would you say when you have too much things to do?
What’s the difference between them?
Are they grammatically correct? 
1. I feel the strain.
2. I feel the tension.
Thank you!  |
Both sentences are grammatically correct. They differ in the type of stress being felt by the person, and how they react to it.
Sentence 1 carries the meaning of "pulling", or some force exerted either physically or mentally on the person. The person may have to physically exert themselves in a sport they have not tried before, or mentally exerting themselves to understand a concept or a series of concepts. Either way, the person is finding that the current activity is requiring him or her to stretch beyond his or her limits.
Sentence 2 can be understood as the opposite of sentence one. In my opinion, "tension" in this case carries the meaning that a person is under some sort of pressure, as in a deadline for an assignment. It could also be an expression thought or spoken when dealing with a difficult situation that needs to be handled in a certain, specific way with no errors. Once a person begins to deal with the situation, any actions must be performed with no mistakes until the situation is dealt with completely.
In the context of having too many things to do, it depends on how familiar the tasks are: if they are unfamiliar, sentence 1. If they are unfamiliar, sentence 2.
Hope that helps, Yuri!