Хоть бы паспарту обрезали ровно.

Here хоть бы is an idiomatic expression of wish plus frustration.

In this sentence, it means something like:

• if only they had cut it straight
• they could at least have cut the mat straight

It usually sounds emotional, often annoyed, disappointed, or critical.

So Хоть бы паспарту обрезали ровно is not a calm neutral statement. It sounds like the speaker is unhappy with the result.

Because Russian forms this kind of wish/irrealis meaning with бы plus a past-tense verb form.

So even though обрезали is formally past tense, in a sentence with бы it often works more like:

• would cut / would have cut
• if only they had cut

This is the normal Russian pattern for the conditional/subjunctive idea.

So:

• обрезали = past plural form
• бы = turns it into a wish/conditional-style meaning

Russian often uses a plural verb with no stated subject to mean an indefinite they or someone.

Here the implied meaning is something like:

• if only they had cut the mat straight
• if only whoever did it had cut it straight

The speaker does not need to name the people. It could be workers, framers, shop staff, etc.

This is very natural in Russian.

Yes, an implied one.

The sentence does not say exactly who cut it, but the listener is expected to understand it from context. The hidden subject is basically they.

Russian often leaves out subjects when they are obvious, unimportant, or deliberately vague.

So the full sense is something like:

• If only they had cut the passe-partout straight.

Паспарту is a borrowed noun meaning mat / mount in framing.

It is usually treated as an indeclinable noun in Russian. That means its form stays the same in different cases.

So even though it is the direct object here, it still appears as паспарту, not with a changed ending.

You may also see it treated as neuter in agreement:

• красивое паспарту
• новое паспарту

But the noun itself stays паспарту.

Because ровно is an adverb, and it describes how the action was done.

Here it modifies the verb обрезали:

• обрезали ровно = cut it straight / evenly

An adjective would describe the noun itself, not the manner of cutting. For example:

• ровное паспарту = a straight/even mat

That is a different structure.

So in this sentence, the important idea is not what kind of mat it is, but how it was cut.

The бы is already there as part of хоть бы.

In Russian, бы does not have to stand right next to the verb. It can attach to another word or particle earlier in the clause. In this expression, хоть бы is a set phrase.

So:

• Хоть бы паспарту обрезали ровно = natural
• you do not need another бы

Russian normally needs only one бы in the clause.

They are related, but not identical.

• хотя бы usually means at least
• хоть бы in this kind of sentence is more emotional and colloquial, often meaning if only or they could at least...

Compare the feeling:

• Хотя бы паспарту обрезали ровно = more straightforward they could at least have cut the mat straight
• Хоть бы паспарту обрезали ровно = more irritated, more conversational, more like a complaint

So хоть бы is especially common when the speaker is unhappy.

Russian word order is flexible, and different orders change emphasis more than basic meaning.

In this sentence, putting паспарту before the verb helps present it as the thing being discussed, while ровно at the end gets strong focus.

So the structure sounds like:

• As for the mat, if only they had cut it straight.

The final ровно is especially effective because it lands on the key complaint.

A different order is possible, but it would shift the emphasis.

It sounds dissatisfied, critical, and a little exasperated.

The speaker is not simply stating a wish. They are complaining that something basic was not done properly.

A very natural English equivalent in tone would be:

• They could at least have cut the mat straight.
• If only they’d cut the mat straight.

So the sentence carries both:

• a wish about how things should have been done
• a complaint that they were not done that way