Breakdown of Ella les está dando el dinero.
ella
she / her (after a preposition)
estar
to be (location/state)
el dinero
the money
les
to them / to you (formal, plural)
Questions & Answers about Ella les está dando el dinero.
Why do we use les here instead of los for "them"?
Les is an indirect object pronoun, which tells us to whom the action is being done. She is giving the money to them. We use los (or las) for direct objects, which are the things directly receiving the action. In this sentence, the direct object is el dinero (the money).
Could les be placed somewhere else in the sentence?
Yes! When you have a conjugated verb followed by an "-ing" word (a gerund like dando), you have two choices. You can put the pronoun before the conjugated verb, like in this sentence: les está dando. Or, you can attach it to the end of the gerund: está dándoles. Notice that if you attach it, you must add an accent mark over the "a" to keep the pronunciation the same.
Does les always mean "to them"?
Not always! Les is the indirect object pronoun for ellos/ellas (them), but also for ustedes (you all, formal). Depending on the context of the conversation, this sentence could also mean "She is giving you all the money."
Why use está dando instead of just saying Ella les da el dinero?
Está dando is the present continuous tense, made with the verb estar plus the -ndo form of a verb. Spanish uses this specifically to emphasize that an action is happening right now in this exact moment. Ella les da is also grammatically correct, but it can be used for more general, ongoing, or habitual actions (like "She gives them the money every week").