A couple of months ago we were looking at different ways of talking about me, one of my favourite topics (Moi, j'adore parler de moi! Et surtout quand on me fait des compliments!) You will remember the good news that  me is the same word in French me but rhyming with sir, not see.  The bad news was that it didn't fit where you think it should. In French it's  It me seems.. Il me semble or That me hurts.. Ça me fait mal or You me have told .. Vous m'avez dit.., with the me bit going in front of the active part of the verb.

Sadly, we can't always be talking about me or you, and other people (third parties) have to be included too – him or her or it or them.  Of course whether it's English or French, you can't say "him" or "her" or "it" or "them" unless you already know who or what you're referring to.  You are using these little words to avoid having to repeat much longer ones.

One of the reasons I like talking about me is that there is only one version of me that tucks in front of the verb (Elle me voit – she sees me. Elle me le donne – she is giving it to me) and you don't have to worry about exactly what relationship it has to the rest of the sentence.  Unfortunately, this is not true of him, her and it.  (Elle le voit – she sees him. Elle le lui donne – She is giving it (le) to him (lui))

In this last example the little word you use depends on whether its the item being given (the direct object) or the person to whom it is being given (the indirect object) 

You can usually tell when it's an indirect object because you can put "to" in front of it and it still makes sense.  I'm talking to him – je lui parle,  I'm phoning "to" him – je lui téléphone.  

Direct objects are the things or the people that the action is done to.  The cat, for instance, when the dog bites it.  The house when you've sold it.  etcetera when you are reading it. You can't  put "to" in front of it.  (Mind you, be careful of words like listen to and look at in English, because the French equivalent has a direct object)

Direct object pronouns are the same as the words you would use for "the" – le, la or les, according to whether they are masculine or feminine or whether there's more than one of them.  In just the same way, le and la drop their second letter in front of a vowel (Je l'ai vu I saw him or her or it – of course you already know who or what you are referring to). 

The indirect object pronouns are lui ("lwee")= to him or to her and leur = to them. You can only use them for people, and they are mainly about communicating or giving.  Je lui ai demandé – I asked him. Elle leur a écrit – She wrote to them.  Mon ami lui a dit – My friend told him. Vous leur  téléphonez souvent – You phone them often. Je lui envoie un cadeau – I'm sending him (or her) a present.

You can easily get into situations where there are more than one of these things that you want to use.  For example  Elle me le donne – She gives it to me or Elle le lui donne – She gives it to him.  So you have to learn which order to put them in.  It's like a football line-up:

This bit of language is not easy to handle and takes a bit of trial and error.  As with all the new bits of language you learn, the secret is to listen to other people's conversations and try to pick them out.  You'll soon hear how much they are used.  Then go out and try it yourself and let yourself be corrected!