Эта кандидатура всем нравится.

Russian often expresses to like with the verb нравиться, which works differently from English.

Literally, the structure is closer to:

• X нравится Y = X is pleasing to Y

So in Эта кандидатура всем нравится:

• эта кандидатура = the thing that is pleasing
• всем = to everyone

That is why Russian does not make everyone the subject here. Instead, the candidacy/nominee is the grammatical subject, and everyone is in the dative case.

By contrast, любить means to love or to be very fond of, and it takes a direct object:

• Все любят эту кандидатуру = Everyone loves this candidacy/nominee

That sounds stronger and less neutral than всем нравится.

Всем is the dative plural form of весь / все in the meaning everyone / to everyone.

With нравиться, the person who experiences the liking goes in the dative case:

• мне нравится = I like
• тебе нравится = you like
• ему нравится = he likes
• нам нравится = we like
• всем нравится = everyone likes / it pleases everyone

So всем does not mean just all here in the nominative sense. It means to everyone.

Because with нравиться, the thing being liked is the grammatical subject of the sentence.

So:

• Эта кандидатура = nominative subject
• всем = dative experiencer
• нравится = verb agreeing with the subject

This is one of the biggest differences from English. In English, we say:

• Everyone likes this candidate/candidacy

But in Russian, the structure is more like:

• This candidacy is pleasing to everyone

That is why кандидатура stays in the nominative.

Because кандидатура is a feminine noun.

The demonstrative this must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case:

• этот = masculine
• эта = feminine
• это = neuter
• эти = plural

Since кандидатура is feminine singular nominative, the correct form is эта.

Because the subject is singular:

• Эта кандидатура = singular

The verb нравиться agrees with the thing that is pleasing, not with the people who like it.

So:

• Эта кандидатура всем нравится = singular subject, so нравится
• Эти кандидатуры всем нравятся = plural subject, so нравятся

Even though всем refers to many people, that does not control the verb agreement.

Not exactly.

• кандидат = candidate, the person
• кандидатура = candidacy, nomination, proposed candidate, or candidate choice

So Эта кандидатура всем нравится usually means something like:

• Everyone likes this nomination / this proposed candidate / this candidacy

It often refers not just to the person as a person, but to them as a proposed option for a role or position.

If you want to talk directly about the person, you might say:

• Этот кандидат всем нравится = Everyone likes this candidate

Yes, нравится comes from нравиться, which has the reflexive ending -ся. But in this verb, you usually should not try to translate -ся literally.

For learners, it is best to treat нравиться as a whole dictionary form meaning:

• to be pleasing
• to be liked

So:

• мне нравится фильм = I like the film
• literally: the film pleases me

The -ся here is part of the verb’s standard form; it is not something you need to interpret as a separate word like self.

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

Neutral order:

• Эта кандидатура всем нравится.

A common alternative:

• Всем нравится эта кандидатура.

Both mean essentially the same thing. The second version may feel slightly more natural in some contexts because it starts with everyone.

You can also move words around for contrast or focus, but the neutral sentence you were given is perfectly normal.

Yes, in this sentence всем is naturally understood as everyone or to everyone.

However, grammatically it is the dative plural form of все. Depending on context, всем can also mean:

• to all
• for all
• to everybody

Here, the most natural English rendering is everyone.

Yes, that is a very helpful literal translation for understanding the grammar.

A natural English translation might be:

• Everyone likes this candidate/candidacy
• This nomination appeals to everyone

But the literal version:

• This candidacy pleases everyone

is excellent for seeing how the Russian sentence is built.

Then the subject would be plural, so both the demonstrative and the verb would change:

• Эти кандидатуры всем нравятся.
• Everyone likes these candidacies / these candidate options.

Changes:

• эта → эти
• кандидатура → кандидатуры
• нравится → нравятся

The dative всем stays the same.

No. That would be incorrect.

With нравиться, the thing that is liked stays in the nominative, because it is the grammatical subject:

• correct: Эта кандидатура всем нравится

The accusative эту кандидатуру would be used with verbs that take a direct object, such as любить:

• Все любят эту кандидатуру.

So:

• нравиться → nominative thing + dative person
• любить → nominative person + accusative thing

The main stress is:

• Э́та кандидату́ра всем нра́вится.

Approximate pronunciation:

• EH-ta kan-dee-da-TOO-ra fsyem NRA-vee-tsa

A few helpful notes:

• всем sounds roughly like fsyem
• нравится is commonly pronounced closer to НРА-вится, with the middle sounding reduced in fast speech
• the stress in кандидатура is on -ту́-

A natural rhythm is:

• Э́та кандидату́ра | всем нра́вится.

The key pattern is:

• [thing in nominative] + [person in dative] + нравится / нравятся

Examples:

• Мне нравится музыка. = I like music.
• Нам нравится этот план. = We like this plan.
• Эта кандидатура всем нравится. = Everyone likes this candidacy/nominee.

If the thing liked is singular, use нравится. If the thing liked is plural, use нравятся.

That pattern is one of the most useful and important ones in basic Russian.