if not my mentor

[navi tasan]

1) If not to my mentor, I had managed to talk to a man whose books had had a great influence on me.
2) I had managed to talk to a man whose books had had a great influence on me, although not to my mentor.

Can one use #1 instead of #2?

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3) If not a masterpiece, she had composed a beautiful piece of music that would bring joy to many.
4) She had composed a beautiful piece of music that would bring joy to many, although not a masterpiece.


Can one use #3 instead of #4?

 

[jutfrank]

It doesn't matter what you can do, does it? Don't you mean to ask what you should do, and why?

 

[Annabel Lee]

I find the abbreviated concessive clause potentially misleading in all four sentences. In (1) and (2), the intended meaning is presumably that the man you talked to was not your mentor; in (3) and (4), the intended meaning is presumably that the piece she composed was not a masterpiece.

However, because of the placement of the abbreviated clause, (1) and (2) can be interpreted as meaning that you did not, in addition to the man you are speaking of, talk to your mentor. Likewise, (3) and (4) can be interpreted as meaning that she did not, in addition to composing a beautiful piece that would bring joy to many, compose a masterpiece. I suggest:

1/2) I managed to talk to a man who, though not my mentor, had (still) written books that had had a great influence on me.​

3/4) She had composed a beautiful piece of music which, though not a masterpiece, would (still) bring joy to many.​

 

[jutfrank]

All four sentences are wrong.

Yet again, I'm desperately struggling to understand what your question really concerns. Are you trying to work out how far removed such abbreviated clauses can be without completely breaking intelligibility?

Also, why are you substituting 'although' for 'if'? These words are very different in meaning.