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Nous leur avons dit la vérité.

Nous leur avons dit la vérité.
We told them the truth.
From Lesson 147:Indirect object pronouns in the past (lui ai, m'a)·French

Questions & Answers about Nous leur avons dit la vérité.

Why does leur come before avons instead of right before dit?
In the passé composé, indirect object pronouns like leur (to them) must go right in front of the conjugated helping verb (avons), not the past participle (dit). So the order is always Nous leur avons dit, never Nous avons leur dit.
Why do we use leur here instead of les?
In French, the verb dire (to say or to tell) takes an indirect object when you mention who you are talking to (dire à quelqu'un). Because of this hidden à (to), we use the indirect object pronoun leur (to them) instead of the direct object pronoun les (them).
Does the past participle dit need an 's' added to the end because leur is plural?
No. In the passé composé, the past participle only changes to match a direct object if that object comes before the verb. Since leur is an indirect object, it never causes the past participle to add an 's' or an 'e'.
Wait, isn't leur a possessive word meaning 'their'?
It can be! Leur has two jobs in French. When it comes before a noun, it means 'their' (like leur voiture for 'their car'). But when it comes before a verb like it does here, it is an indirect object pronoun meaning 'to them'.

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