If I can be honest with you, I didn't take the money.

[sitifan]

1. If I can be honest with you, I didn't take the money.
If I can make a long story short, I failed.
If I can speak frankly, you haven't been doing a good job.
2. To be honest with you, I didn't take the money.
To make a long story short, I failed.
To speak frankly, you haven't been doing a good job.

All the above sentences are quoted from Xuan Yuanyou Grammar. The author, who is not a native speaker of English, thinks that the sentences in #2 are reduced versions of those in #1. Therefore, they have the same meaning. Do native speakers agree with what the author says?

 

[GoesStation]

The sentences in group one are incorrect.

 

[Tarheel]

When somebody uses the phrase "To be honest with you" the often heard reply is "So you haven't been honest with me up until now?" (It's such an obvious comeback that people can't resist using it.) I wouldn't use that phrase because of the obvious implication that the person hasn't been honest up to that point.

 

[jutfrank]

No, I don't agree at all. First of all, the sentences in group 1 are wrong. Second, I don't think there's any sensible way to say that the sentences in group 2 are reduced versions of those in group 1, and third, they do not have the same meaning.

 

[emsr2d2]

This isn't the first time you've quoted something like this from that book. The author seems to be obsessed with claiming that perfectly good, grammatical sentences are "reduced versions" of others.

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER



Sitifan, I agree with the teachers that usually one would not say "If I can be honest/frank with you" if one wants to deny something.
It is usually used in a sentence such as "If I can be honest/frank with you, your girlfriend seems to be very rude to people."

One would say, however: "Believe me. I didn't take your money" or "I am telling you the truth. I did not take your money" or "You know me well enough to know that I would never take your money."

 

[Tdol]

Honestly, if I can, to cut a long story short, speak frankly about Xuan Yuanyou Grammar, I would suggest something that ticks far more boxes, like Michael Swan. To be honest is not a formulaic reduction of If I can be honest. Both could be used, but context would determine which, and you'd be pressed to find a context for #1.