Нет бы тебе прикрепить наклейку «Хрупкое» — её забыли.

This is a common colloquial Russian pattern used to express reproach, annoyance, or “why didn’t you just…”.

So:

Нет бы тебе прикрепить наклейку…

means something like:

• You could have at least attached a sticker…
• Why didn’t you just attach a sticker…
• If only you had attached a sticker…

It does not literally mean there is no… here. As a whole, нет бы is an idiomatic expression.

The tone is mildly critical or complaining.

Because the construction нет бы normally takes the person in the dative case.

So:

• тебе = to you / for you
• not ты

This is just part of the grammar of the idiom:

• Нет бы тебе позвонить. = Why didn’t you just call?
• Нет бы мне промолчать. = I should have just kept quiet.

So in your sentence, тебе is required by the expression, not by the verb прикрепить itself.

Because after нет бы, Russian normally uses the infinitive.

Structure:

• нет бы + dative + infinitive

So:

• Нет бы тебе прикрепить...
• Нет бы ему проверить...
• Нет бы нам подождать...

The infinitive here describes the action that would have been the sensible or expected thing to do.

Прикрепить is perfective, while прикреплять is imperfective.

Here the speaker is talking about one completed action: attaching the sticker. That is why perfective is natural.

• прикрепить = to attach, as a completed act
• прикреплять = to be attaching / to attach repeatedly or as a process

In this sentence, the idea is:

You should have done this one simple thing.

That favors the perfective infinitive прикрепить.

It means a sticker/label saying “Fragile.”

More literally, this is short for something like:

• наклейка с надписью «Хрупкое»
• sticker with the word “Fragile” on it

Russian often uses this compressed structure:

• табличка «Закрыто» = a sign saying Closed
• кнопка «Старт» = a button labeled Start
• наклейка «Хрупкое» = a sticker labeled Fragile

So «Хрупкое» is the text written on the sticker.

Because хрупкое is the neuter singular form of the adjective хрупкий (fragile).

On labels and signs, Russian often uses a single adjective or word as a kind of short label, even when the noun is not stated.

Here it implies something like:

• [груз] хрупкое
• [содержимое] хрупкое
• fragile item / contents are fragile

So the neuter form works as a general label.

This is similar to how signs can use isolated words in a conventional form.

Because it is the direct object of прикрепить.

• прикрепить что? → наклейку

Since наклейка is a feminine noun, its accusative singular form is:

• наклейка → наклейку

So:

• прикрепить наклейку = to attach a sticker

Её refers back to наклейку.

So:

• наклейку = the sticker
• её забыли = they forgot it

In other words, the sticker was forgotten / they forgot to include or attach the sticker.

Because наклейка is feminine, the pronoun is её.

No specific people are identified. This is an indefinite-personal use of the 3rd person plural in Russian.

• её забыли literally = they forgot it
• but in natural English it may mean:
  • it was forgotten
  • someone forgot it
  • they forgot to include it

Russian often uses plural verbs with no subject when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or left vague.

Examples:

• Стучат. = Someone is knocking.
• Меня спросили. = I was asked / They asked me.
• Её забыли. = It was forgotten / They forgot it.

The dash marks an added comment or explanation.

The sentence is roughly:

• You should have attached a “Fragile” sticker — they forgot it.

The second part explains why the first part mattered: the sticker was not there because it had been forgotten.

In English, you might use:

• a dash
• a semicolon
• or even a separate sentence

Russian often uses a dash to connect ideas in a vivid, conversational way.

It is definitely colloquial.

The main reason is the expression нет бы, which sounds conversational and emotionally colored. It carries a tone of:

• complaint
• reproach
• hindsight
• “that would have been the sensible thing to do”

So this would fit speech, dialogue, messaging, or informal narration much better than formal writing.

Yes — very often that is the best English equivalent.

A natural translation might be:

• You should have attached a “Fragile” sticker — they forgot it.
• You could have at least attached a “Fragile” sticker — it got forgotten.
• Why didn’t you just attach a “Fragile” sticker? They forgot it.

Which version works best depends on context, but should have often captures the reproach well.

Good question. Since a sticker is something you usually stick on, наклеить might seem more obvious.

• наклеить = to stick/glue onto
• прикрепить = to attach/fix to

But прикрепить наклейку is still understandable and possible, especially if the speaker is thinking more generally about attaching a label to a package rather than focusing on the sticky action itself.

So:

• наклеить наклейку sounds more specifically like stick the label on
• прикрепить наклейку sounds a bit more general: attach the label

Both can work, though наклеить may feel more literal in some contexts.

The tone is something like:

• mildly annoyed
• critical
• “this could have been avoided”
• frustrated hindsight

The speaker is basically saying:

It would have been so simple to attach a “Fragile” sticker, but that sticker was forgotten, and now there’s a problem.

So the sentence is not just giving information — it also expresses the speaker’s attitude.