Placement of the preposition phrase

Question

I was doing some Spanish exercises and noticed the following sentences:

1. Él le cuenta a su hija una historia triste.
2. Ella le cuenta una historia chistosa a su hermana.

In the first sentence, the prepositional phrase immediately follows the verb. In the second, it comes at the end, after the direct object.

How does a learner know which way is best in a particular circumstance?

Answer 1

Both phrases are correct. You are using the following formulas:

1. Subject + indirect pronoun+ verb+ indirect object + direct object

2. Subject + indirect pronoun+ verb + direct object + indirect object

I am almost sure that the placement of the indirect and direct object is interchangeable.