Joindre vs Rejoindre

Raymond T.C1Kwiziq community member

Joindre vs Rejoindre

"En 1941, il est parti rejoindre le Général de Gaulle à Londres"

Is this correct? I wrote "En 1941, il est parti joindre le Général de Gaulle à Londres". Did Michel's oncle rejoin de Gaulle?

Asked 3 weeks ago
CécileKwiziq Native French TeacherCorrect answer

Bonjour Raymond,

These two verbs have distinct meanings and are used in different contexts.

Joindre = to join, connect, or attach things together
Joindre les mains = to join hands together
Joindre un document à un email to attach a document to an email

 Joindre les deux bouts = to make ends meet 


Rejoindre to join up with, meet up with, or catch up to someone/something

Je vais rejoindre mes amis au café = I'm going to meet up with my friends at the café

Il a rejoint son équipe He joined/caught up with his team

 Rejoindre quelqu'un en route = to catch up with someone on the way)

Joindre focuses on connecting or contacting, while rejoindre emphasizes meeting up with or joining someone/something that already exists. Think of rejoindre as "re-joining" - going to where someone or something already is.

Hope this helps!

Raymond T. asked:

Joindre vs Rejoindre

"En 1941, il est parti rejoindre le Général de Gaulle à Londres"

Is this correct? I wrote "En 1941, il est parti joindre le Général de Gaulle à Londres". Did Michel's oncle rejoin de Gaulle?

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