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C'est le projet le plus difficile, mais ils en sont fiers.

C'est le projet le plus difficile, mais ils en sont fiers.
It is the most difficult project, but they are proud of it.
From Lesson 235:The pronoun 'en' with verbs (en)·French

Questions & Answers about C'est le projet le plus difficile, mais ils en sont fiers.

Why do we use en in this sentence instead of a word like le?
The pronoun en is used here because the adjective fier (proud) is followed by the preposition de (to be proud of something). Instead of repeating ils sont fiers du projet, we replace du projet (which is de + le projet) with en.
Why does en go before the verb sont?
In French, object pronouns like en almost always go immediately before the conjugated verb they are linked to. Instead of saying "they are proud of it" like in English, French structures it as "they of-it are proud" (ils en sont fiers).
Could we say ils sont fiers de lui to mean "proud of it"?
No, you can't use de lui here. After a preposition like de, stress pronouns (lui, elle, eux) are normally reserved for people. Since a project is an inanimate thing, you must use en to mean "of it".
Why are there two le's in le projet le plus difficile?
This is how French forms the superlative ("the most...") for adjectives that come after the noun. You need one definite article for the noun (le projet) and a second one to create the superlative phrase (le plus difficile).

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