present condition; existing state; status quo; current state
to concern; to be related
clue; lead; key; handhold; hold
few; little; small (amount); low; scarce; insufficient
direct; immediate; personal; firsthand
difficult; hard; impossible; unfeasible; fussy; particular; gloomy
first of all; to begin with; probably; most likely; more or less (satisfactory); on the whole
to have been decided (so) that; to have been arranged (so) that; to be the result (of); to be the outcome; to be the reason (for)
that is to say; that is; in short; in brief; clogging; obstruction; shrinkage
activity (of a person, organization, animal, volcano, etc.); action; operation; moving picture
on the way; en route; in the middle of; midway; halfway
how many times; how many degrees (temperature, angle, etc.)
encounter; running into; meeting with (e.g. an accident); being confronted with (e.g. a difficulty)
similar but different; alike only in appearance; falsely similar; spurious; sham; pseudo-
sure; no mistaking it; for certain; without doubt
means; way; method; measure
to differ; to be different; to disagree; to vary; to diverge
person; someone; human beings; mankind; human (Homo sapiens); (other) people; others
to move; to stir; to operate; to run; to make a move; to take action; to be touched
ecology; life and habits (of an animal); mode of life; way of living
observation; survey; watching
brains (of an operation); advisor; brain trust; brain (organ)
by means of; due to; because of; according to
big; large; loud; extensive; spacious; important
by myself; in person; by oneself
information; experience; observation; seeing and hearing
fact; truth; reality; in fact; actually
to talk about; to speak of; to recite; to chant; to indicate; to show
when it comes to ...; if one were to speak of ...; by ... you mean ...; when you say ... you mean that ...; whenever ...; if it's ... then (without fail)
murmur; mutter; murmuring; tweet; Twitter post
hailing each other; acting in concert; responding (to); agreement; concord
things like; something like; someone like; such a thing as; (the fact) that; to think that
pattern; design; body build; figure; essential qualities; character
is not; am not; are not; isn't it?
as a matter of fact; by the way; to tell you the truth; to be honest; frankly; actually
a little; a bit; just a minute; for a moment; somewhat; rather; (not) easily
even at the best of times; already; (even) under normal circumstances; in addition to; as it is
face; mask; face guard; striking the head (in kendo); surface (esp. a geometrical surface); page; aspect
quite; utterly; (not) at all; completely; wholly; entirely
it is assuredly that ...; can say with confidence that ...; did not ...
but (still); and yet; nevertheless; even so; notwithstanding
filling (up) a hole; filling in (for a gap, vacancy, etc.); stopgap; making up (for a loss, damage, etc.); covering (a deficit); fill-in-the-blank activity