Third conditional sentences are used to express how the present would be if something different had happened in the past.
Third conditional sentences are commonly used to:
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imagine something that could have happened in the past
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express regrets about the past
The third conditional is also called the unreal conditional because both the condition and the result are hypothetical/imaginary.
The usual structure of third conditional sentences is:
Conditional sentences contain two clauses:
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Conditional clause (commonly called the if-clause)
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the condition/situation
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dependent clause—it needs the hypothetical result to form a complete sentence
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contains a conditional clause marker—subordinating conjunction such as the words “if,” “when,” “as,” etc.
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Main clause
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the result
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independent clause—makes sense on its own
