Мы можем встретиться где угодно, лишь бы там было тихо.

Где угодно means anywhere or wherever you like.

It is a very common pattern in Russian:

• кто угодно = anyone
• что угодно = anything
• когда угодно = anytime
• где угодно = anywhere

So in this sentence, где угодно means the place does not matter.

Встретиться is the natural choice here because it means to meet up / to meet each other, usually for a single occasion.

A few useful contrasts:

• встретиться = to meet up, to meet each other
• встретить = to meet someone, to encounter someone
• встречаться = to meet regularly / to be dating / to keep meeting

So:

• Мы можем встретиться = We can meet up
• Я могу встретить тебя = I can meet you / pick you up
• Мы встречаемся can mean We meet regularly or We are dating

Here the speaker means one possible meeting, so встретиться fits best.

Because the sentence is about one complete meeting event, not an ongoing or repeated process.

After verbs like мочь (can, be able to), Russian often uses an infinitive that shows whether the action is seen as complete or ongoing:

• можем встретиться = we can meet up once / have a meeting
• можем встречаться = we can meet regularly / keep meeting

So the perfective infinitive встретиться matches the idea of one meeting.

Лишь бы means as long as, provided that, or sometimes if only.

In this sentence, it introduces the speaker’s only important condition:

• Мы можем встретиться где угодно, лишь бы там было тихо.
• We can meet anywhere, as long as it’s quiet there.

It often has the nuance of:

I don’t care about the other details; this one condition matters.

So it is stronger and more specific in tone than a plain если (if).

This is one of the most common learner questions.

After лишь бы, Russian very often uses a past-tense form to express a desired or required condition. Even though it looks like past tense, the meaning is not really past here.

So:

• лишь бы там было тихо = as long as it’s quiet there
• literally, it looks more like if only it were quiet there

This is a normal Russian pattern. It is similar to how some languages use a special mood for wishes or conditions. Russian does not have a separate subjunctive form here, so the past-tense form does that job.

Because this is an impersonal construction.

In там было тихо, there is no specific noun acting as the subject. Russian often uses neuter singular past tense in this kind of sentence:

• Было холодно. = It was cold.
• Было интересно. = It was interesting.
• Было тихо. = It was quiet.

So было is the default form here.

Because тихо here does not describe a noun directly. It describes the state of the place.

Compare:

• тихое место = a quiet place
  
  • here тихое is an adjective modifying место
• там тихо = it is quiet there
  
  • here тихо is a predicative word/adverb-like form describing the situation

So in this sentence, the meaning is not a quiet place as a noun phrase, but that it be quiet there.

Там means there, referring back to whatever place they end up meeting in.

So:

• лишь бы там было тихо = as long as it’s quiet there

It helps connect the condition to the place of the meeting.

It is not always strictly necessary. You could also say:

• Мы можем встретиться где угодно, лишь бы было тихо.

That is also natural. Adding там just makes the reference more explicit.

Because где means where in the sense of location, while куда means where to in the sense of destination.

Here the sentence is about the location of the meeting:

• встретиться где? = where to meet / where to meet up

Even though meeting involves movement, Russian usually treats встретиться with the place of the meeting as a location.

So где угодно is the natural choice.

Можем is the 1st person plural form of мочь:

• я могу = I can
• мы можем = we can

So:

• Мы можем встретиться = We can meet

This is just the normal present-tense form used to express ability or possibility.

Yes. Russian word order is flexible, and changing it usually changes emphasis, not the core meaning.

For example:

• Мы можем встретиться где угодно, лишь бы там было тихо.
• Лишь бы там было тихо, мы можем встретиться где угодно.
• Мы можем встретиться где угодно, лишь бы было тихо.

The original version is very natural: first the main statement, then the condition.

Yes, normally it is.

Лишь бы там было тихо is a subordinate clause expressing a condition, so Russian punctuation sets it off with a comma:

• Мы можем встретиться где угодно, лишь бы там было тихо.

Yes, often it can.

Russian verb endings already show who is doing the action:

• можем already means we can

So this is also natural:

• Можем встретиться где угодно, лишь бы там было тихо.

Including мы can make the sentence a bit more explicit or emphatic, but it is not necessary.

Yes, a little.

It often suggests:

The other details don’t matter much; this one thing matters.

So the sentence can sound like:

• We can meet anywhere — I just need it to be quiet.

That makes the sentence feel practical and slightly selective: the place is flexible, but the quietness is important.