The strain of the past few days had begun to tell on him.

By the end of the third week, though, the strain had begun to tell.

It only ended when the first strains of music began.

The strain of the past weeks began slowly to fall away.

The strain of running a successful company soon began to tell.

The strains of early season frustration are beginning to show through.

The strain from those two years was beginning to show.

But it seemed as though, at last, the long strain was beginning to tell.

After several hours of perfect command, the strain began to tell on him.

The strain of the conversation was beginning to tell on him.