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Louie's mother was actually a housewife. Childish and foolish, Louie thought that she was a bottle-washer, often noticing her washing bottles. Despite that, he wrote that she was a nurse, to keep up appearances.
I have two questions actually:
Childish and foolish, Louie thought that she was a bottle-washer [...]
Is it correct to place adjectives before the noun like that?
[...] he wrote that she was a nurse, to keep up appearances.
Is the use of keep up appearances correct in this context?
Yes to both.
Childish and foolish, Louie thought that she was a bottle-washer [...]
This is called fronting, where the sentence is re-ordered to place emphasis on the leading phrase. You'll usually only see this in written English (unless you're watching Star Wars, where Yoda speaks like this sometimes). You can read more here: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/about-words-clauses-and-sentences/fronting.
[...] he wrote that she was a nurse, to keep up appearances.
is a correct use of the phrase. Louie lies about what his mother does so the person he is lying to won't think less of him/his family.
chaildish and foolish be placed after Louie, the subject?
Mar 13, 2017 at 9:06