kanozyo ha zyoudan wo itte waraimasita.

は marks 彼女 as the topic of the sentence.

So 彼女は means something like as for her or she in natural English.

In this sentence, 彼女 is also the person doing the actions, but Japanese often uses は to introduce the topic instead of using a subject marker like が. If you changed it to 彼女が, the nuance would shift a bit toward emphasizing she as the one who did it.

• 彼女は = as for her / she
• 彼女が = she with more focus or contrast, depending on context

を marks the direct object of the verb.

Here, the verb is 言う, which means to say.
So 冗談を言う literally means to say a joke.

This is a very common Japanese expression for to joke or to tell a joke.

So:

• 冗談 = joke
• 冗談を言う = to say a joke / to joke / to tell a joke

Even though English might say make a joke or tell a joke, Japanese uses 言う.

言って is the て-form of 言う.

The て-form often connects verbs. In this sentence, it links:

• 冗談を言って = said a joke / joked
• 笑いました = laughed

So the sentence describes two actions done by the same person.

A natural way to understand it is:

• She said a joke and laughed
• She joked and laughed

The て-form is very common for linking actions in Japanese.

Usually, yes.

When one verb in て-form is followed by another verb, it often means the actions happened in sequence:

1. she said the joke
2. she laughed

So 冗談を言って笑いました most naturally sounds like she told a joke and then laughed.

Sometimes the て-form can also suggest a close connection between actions, not just strict order. Here, though, a sequential reading is very natural.

This is a very important Japanese pattern.

When verbs are connected with the て-form, only the final verb usually carries the main tense and politeness for the whole chain.

So in:

• 言って
• 笑いました

the sentence as a whole is past polite because the final verb is 笑いました.

You do not need to make both verbs past. In fact, something like 言いましたて would be wrong.

This pattern is similar to saying:

• 食べて帰りました = ate and went home
• 起きて勉強しました = got up and studied

笑いました simply says that she laughed.

笑っていました would mean something more like:

• was laughing
• had been laughing
• or sometimes laughed with a descriptive/background nuance, depending on context

So the version in your sentence is simpler and more direct: it presents the laughter as a completed action in the past.

Compare:

• 笑いました = laughed
• 笑っていました = was laughing / had been laughing

Yes, it can.

彼女 can mean:

• she
• girlfriend

The correct meaning depends on context.

In a standalone sentence like this, if the meaning has already been shown to the learner, you follow that context. But this is definitely something learners notice, because Japanese often allows this kind of ambiguity when there is not much context.

It is natural, but it is not the only way.

冗談を言う specifically means to say a joke or to make a joking remark. It often feels like an actual spoken joke or teasing comment.

Other related expressions include:

• 冗談だ = I’m joking / it’s a joke
• ふざける = to mess around / fool around
• ジョークを言う = to tell a joke, using the loanword ジョーク

So 冗談を言って笑いました gives a clear image of someone saying something jokingly and then laughing.

Japanese often does not need a separate word for and between verbs.

Instead, it uses the て-form to connect actions.

So:

• 言って
  • 笑いました

works like said a joke and laughed.

This is one of the most basic and useful functions of the て-form.

Japanese word order is somewhat flexible, but not completely free.

The normal order here is:

• 彼女は = topic
• 冗談を = object
• 言って = first verb in て-form
• 笑いました = final verb

That is a very natural order.

You might sometimes move things for emphasis, but for learners, this standard pattern is best:

topic + object + verbて + main verb

So this sentence is a good example of normal, straightforward Japanese word order.

Yes, by default it is.

In a sentence like this, when two verbs are connected with the て-form, the listener normally understands that the same subject is doing both actions unless something indicates otherwise.

So here, 彼女 is understood as the person who both:

• said the joke
• laughed

If the subjects were different, Japanese would usually need a clearer structure to show that.

A little, but the main reading is still and then.

The て-form can sometimes express:

• sequence
• cause/reason
• manner
• accompanying action

In this sentence, the most natural interpretation is simple action linking: she said a joke and laughed.

A cause reading like she laughed because she made a joke is possible in a loose sense, but it is not the strongest or most basic interpretation here.