I didn't want my two children to see it.

[99bottles]

I removed that photo from the wall, because I didn't/don't want my two children to see it.

Context: I still don't want my two children to see it. Should I use the present or the past tense?

 

[5jj]

You can make a case for either tense.

 

[99bottles]

You can make a case for either tense.

What do you mean? That the meaning is different? What's the difference?

 

[5jj]

It's the normal difference in meaning between present and past tenses.

1. I removed that photo from the wall, because I didn't want my two children to see it.
2. I removed that photo from the wall, because I don't want my two children to see it.

1 - At the past time when I removed the photo from the wall, I did not want my children to see it.
2 -I do not want my children to see that photo at any time and so, when I saw it on the wall at that past time, I removed it.

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't see the need for a comma before "because".

 

[99bottles]

I don't see the need for a comma before "because".

I don't know. When I said it in my head, I imagined making a pause before because. Any other opinions?

 

[5jj]

My personal opinion, and that's all it is:

1. I removed that photo from the wall, because I didn't want my two children to see it.
2. I removed that photo from the wall because I didn't want my two children to see it.

1 - The comma/pause suggests that I am adding the information in the second clause almost as an afterthought.
2. - the absence of the comma pause suggests that my sentence is roughly equivalent to I removed that photo from the wall in order to prevent my children seeing it.

 

[jutfrank]

I agree with post #7 but I think the difference in meaning between the two sentences that 5jj describes is more than just an opinion. The comma serves to disambiguate the different logical forms of the sentences.

It's basically the same difference as below:

I didn't go, because I love you. (The reason I didn't go was that I love you.)
I didn't go because I love you. (I went for a different reason.)