past tense and if

1. If I see her, I will show her my new bike. =>Conditional #1 - it means that it is likely/possible I will see her.

2. If I saw her, I would show her my new bike => Conditional #2 - it means that it is unlikely I will see her.

My question is if I narrate my story using past tense and would like to give my audience the meaning of sentence #1 (it is likely I will see her"), what should I do? My concern is using past tense would give my audience the second impression (it is unlikely I will see her).

http://www.ego4u.com/en/cram-up/grammar/conditional-sentences

Please help!

I don't think I get what you are saying. I do know what is reported speech but I don't see how that is related to my question. Please clarify to me.

Meanwhile, let's revisit my original sentence.

If I see her, I will show her my new bike.

If I use this sentence in a story like:

Yesterday, I was walking around the neighborhood and I ran into John. John told me Mary would usually walk her dog around that time. If I saw her, I would show her my new bike. 

Is this correct in the sense that the sentence still implies likeliness of meeting Mary, though it is using past tense which looks like conditional #2?

CalifJim wrote:

I would not get too worried about the likelihood factor here.  Even though the backshift occurs, the likelihood remains that of the original tenses. If I would like to give my readers the impression of unlikeliness in the past, how should I rephrase my sentence? But on another point, there is something unidiomatic about the example itself.  It doesn't seem that that last sentence comes up very naturally there.  It seems to be floating with respect to time and needs a preceding main clause to anchor it. Also, from the viewpoint of logic, you were walking, so you didn't have your bike.  I'm confused about how you would show Mary your bike if you didn't have it there.  Thanks for correcting it. I'm trying hard to improve on my English. English is always hard for me and I hope to get to the level that I can comfortable communicate using English. That's why I'm posting so many questions hoping to clear my endless doubts. Personally, I find the following more idiomatic and logical. As I was walking around the neighborhood yesterday, I ran into John.  He told me that Mary usually walked her dog at about that time.  I [resolved / decided / told him] that if I saw her, I would ask her if she wanted to see my new bike. Maybe we can come up with a different example where the bare conditional stucture comes up quite naturally in a past tense context without an introductory clause, but I can't think of one just now.  CJ

CalifJim, thanks for clarifying this. I wonder why it is not mentioned in Conditional Types notes that they are only effective in expressing likeliness if there's no backshift in time.   I think that's why Gurus like you are essential to learners.

Thanks a lot and Merry Christmas!