"...to become a painter"

Hi,
Let me begin by asking you to consider a couple of simpler examples.

I wanted to cook dinner.

I had wanted to cook dinner.

Do you understand the difference between these tenses?

Best wishes, Clive

I wanted to cook dinner. I had the desire to cook dinner some time in the past.

I had wanted to cook dinner. I had the desire to cook dinner a long time ago.

Is this the difference between the two sentences?

Thanks

PBF

PeaceblinkfriendDo they all mean the same thing?

Adding "once" doesn't change the meaning, but changing the tense does.

Peaceblinkfrienddo they sound like natural English to you?

Yes, except the last one, which seems awkward to me.
CJ

Hi,

I wanted to cook dinner. I had the desire to cook dinner some time in the past. Yes.

I had wanted to cook dinner. I had the desire to cook dinner a long time ago. No. The distance in the past is not important. The Past Perfect is used to show that an event happened in the past before some other event or point in the past.
eg At 7pm yes

Thanks for replying, CalifJim and Clive.

I will certainly heed your advice and work on Past Perfect.

Would 'I wanted to become a painter' be a strong enough utterance to accentuate the fact that 'I' no longer want to become a painter? If not, could you suggest what I should say to make that emphasis?

Th

PeaceblinkfriendWould 'I wanted to become a painter' be a strong enough utterance to accentuate the fact that 'I' no longer want to become a painter?

I don't think so. Unless the context makes it clear. You could say, I always wanted to become a painter but then I grew up and realized it wouldn't make a good living so I went to medical school and now I'm darn

Hi,
You could say 'I used to want to become a painter'.
Clive