I know that the proper way to use "not too long ago" is: "Not too long ago, contractors used to build houses and sell them to dealers. It was the responsibility of the dealers to provide financing to potential home buyers."
Instead of these two sentences, can I use:
"If not too long ago, contractors used to build houses and sell them to dealers, who were responsible for providing financing to potential home buyers, today most builders also offer financing alternatives."?
My question is whether "if not too long ago" is correct or not. If it's not correct, I would highly appreciate it if someone could explain why.
Thank you,
Maria
Best Answer
There are a couple of issues with the proposed alternative.
The phrase "If not too long ago, ..." can be initially read as "If [it was] not too long ago, [then] ...". This makes the rest of the sentence sound confusing. The reader who happened to pick that interpretation of the starting phrase then needs to start again.
If the reader didn't stumble at the first phrase, they have another opportunity. The form of the proposed alternative can scan as the pattern "If [time-frame], [condition], [question starting with 'who were ...']". Again, the reader needs to switch gears mentally and start again.
Technically, the construction is grammatical. It is, however, a more complex structure than the original and may take several attempts to understand the intended meaning.
If your aim is to communicate, go with the original version. You can add the final clause as a new sentence to complete the thought: "... to potential home buyers. Today most builders also offer financing alternatives."