My dad wanted to take a picture of me with my diploma.

[kadioguy]

A Graduation

Look at these great photos on my web page! The first three are from my favorite classes, but the other pictures are from graduation day. There are two pictures of my classmates in caps and gown. In the first picture, we're laughing and the photographer is upset. In the second photo, we're serious. I like the serious photo but I love the funny photo!

There's also a picture of our guest speaker, the mayor. She is standing at the podium. Next, you can see me at the graduation ceremony. My dad wanted to take a picture of me with my diploma. That's my mom next to him. She cries when she's happy.

After the ceremony, everyone was happy, but no one cried. We wanted to celebrate and we did!.

[From Oxford Picture Dictionary, 3rd ed.]
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1. Why is "wanted" in the past tense compared to the surrounding sentences? Does that mean her dad had wanted to take a picture of her with her diploma before other things happening in this picture?

2. Having said that, I think that "want" [present simple] would also work (but would have a slightly different meaning). "My dad wants to take a picture of me with my diploma" would simply mean that her dad wanted to take a picture of her with her diploma at that time.

What do you think?
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[Barque]

Does that mean her dad had wanted to take a picture of her with her diploma before other things happening in this picture?

She's referring to that particular moment, which is now in the past.

When referring to the photographer being upset, she used "is" because you can see that the photo shows him upset. She could also have used "was".

2. Having said that, I think that "want" [present simple] would also work (but would have a slightly different meaning). "My dad wants to take a picture of me with my diploma" would simply mean that her dad wanted to take a picture of her with her diploma at that time.

Possible but for some reason "wanted" seems a better choice. The photographer sentence seems fine in the present tense however--may be because the photo shows him upset.

 

[Tarheel]

If you said your father wanted to take a picture of you with your diploma my reaction would probably be: "Why didn't he?"

**What kinds of ceremonies are important for children? For teens? For adults?**

 

[kadioguy]

She's referring to that particular moment, which is now in the past.

When referring to the photographer being upset, she used "is" because you can see that the photo shows him upset. [...]

I have a new thought:

On the left side, at the bottom right we can see that her father is taking a photo of her. So, the "want" of her father to do this might be before that time, thus "wanted".

Does this make sense to you? (Or do you think that that is exactly the time when her father "wanted" to take a photo?)

 

[Barque]

He wanted to take a photo of her. So he raised his camera.

It refers to what he was thinking of at that time--which is now in the past.

Does this make sense to you?

I'm not trying to analyse it in detail. The sentence as a whole feels correct to me and I'm happy with that.

She could also have said "My father took a photo of me". Or "This photo shows my father taking a photo of me". There are often many different ways to express a particular idea. Or "That's my father about to take a photo of me".

I'd advise you to try and understand the overall meaning, and gradually individual words will make sense to you. Don't do it the other way round.

 

[jutfrank]

I have a new thought:

On the left side, at the bottom right we can see that her father is taking a photo of her. So, the "want" of her father to do this might be before that time, thus "wanted".

Does this make sense to you? (Or do you think that that is exactly the time when her father "wanted" to take a photo?)

Yes, that sounds right to me. The photo doesn't show her father at the exact time of wanting, so it isn't appropriate to use the present tense for that sentence.

 

[Tarheel]

It's an interesting comment about the photographer. Why do I say that? He's in the picture, so he obviously isn't the photographer for that picture. (Maybe that's why he's upset. He didn't want to be in the picture. )