What is the difference between the pronouns le/la/les and lui/leur?

Pronouns are words which replace nouns. It can be tricky to understand the difference in usage between these two different types of pronouns as they can be both used to describe the same object; a person or a thing. The pronouns le / la / les are what are known as direct object pronouns. This means that they are used to replace a person or a thing that is the direct object of the sentence. In other words, the person or thing doing the action of the sentence. The pronouns lui / leur are what are known as indirect object pronouns. This means that they are used to replace a person or a thing that is the indirect object of the sentence. In other words, the person or thing having the action done to them in the sentence. Top tip: nouns that become lui/leur in pronoun form are usually signposted by a preposition such as à. E.g Tina donne les fleurs à Paul would become Tina les lui donne with pronouns. Can you tell me which pronoun represents les fleurs and à Paul? Both sets of pronouns must go before the noun in a sentence. If both types of pronoun are used in one sentence, the direct must always go first, ie. the le/la/les pronouns. E.g. Je le lui ai dit - I told it to her. The problem is that where the English takes a direct object, the French may take an indirect object so it is so important to learn verbs with prepositions!