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"By the time you finish reading her a book, she would be asleep."

I understand that we can use "will" instead of "would", but I'm curious whether "would" can be used as stated above. I thought that it is still possible to use "would" if it is used in a way that implies uncertainty, as in "When I get there, she would be playing the piano." Am I correct?

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Would implies uncertainty only in the conditional.

If you [were to] read her a bedtime story, by the time you finished she would [probably] be asleep.

You can't use it following the present tense as in your examples.

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"By the time you finish reading her a book, she would be asleep."

In this sentence you should use 'will'. If there is doubt you would write, for example:

"If you finished reading her the book, she would be asleep."

or

"If you finish reading her the book, she could be asleep."

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