in not too long

[sitifan]

Seabees came in not too long after we landed.
Source: https://books.google.com.tw/books?i...page&q="Seabees came in not too long"&f=false

Can I use "soon" instead of "in not too long" in the above sentence?

 

[teechar]

You can, but note that "soon" is sooner than "not too long".

 

[jutfrank]

If you use 'soon', you need to keep 'in', as it's part of the phrasal verb 'came in' and not the time phrase.

seabees came in soon after we landed

 

[sitifan]

We're going to define it in not too long. (at 7:51)
Source:

Can I use "not too long" instead of "in not too long" in the above sentence?

 

[5jj]

No. The phrase means IN a short time