Confusion about le, lo and la

Question

I have already known the usage of le, lo and la when it comes to direct and indirect. But there is still one question that always confuses me. For example, if I want to say " I paid her 5 dollars" , in Spanish, it is " Le pagué 5 dolares a ella". However, what if I want to say "I paid her really well"? Should I say " Le pagué muy bien a ella" or "La pagué muy bien"?

Another example, " I told her a story" in Spanish is " Le dije una historia a ella" what if I want to say " I told her that I was tired" Should I say " Le dije a ella que estuve cansado" or " La dije que estuve cansado"?

Thanks for all your help in advance! Muchas gracias!

Answer 1

Any time you can use "a él /ella" as you have done in your examples (this phrase directs the action), you know that this person is an indirect object and le/les should be used.

Also; I told her a story would sound more natural saying: Le conté una historia.

Thanks. - 0095ca4c, Dec 10, 2013