Joindre et Se joindre, as well as “rejoindre,” and “se rejoindre” are all relate to the idea of “joining,” they have distinct meanings and uses that are important to understand.
In this lesson, we’ll go over the meanings of each verb, as well as provide examples of how to use them in context. In less than 10 minutes, you will better understand how to properly use these French verbs in different situations.
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First, let’s quickly look at the pronunciation of the 4 French verbs we are looking at in this French lesson:
Joindre translates to To attach – To join. It’s a transitive verb. What is a transitive verb? A transitive verb
means that you need an object after. Joindre describes the action of connecting or attaching two things, or of adding something to something else. Not for people.
For example:
Je vais joindre ce document à ma lettre.
I’m going to attach this document to my letter.
Merci de joindre deux photos pour votre carte d’identité.
Please attach two photos for your identity card.
Se joindre – To join is a reflexive verb, which means that the action is performed on the subject. This verb is used to describe the action of joining a group or taking part in something, somewhere else.
Most often, it will be followed by à – Se joindre à
For example:
Je vais me joindre à eux pour le déjeuner.
I’m going to join them for lunch.
Nous avons invité nos amis à se joindre à nous pour le dîner.
We invited our friends to join us for dinner.
Rejoindre – To join – To meet, is an intransitive verb, the opposite of transitive. This verb is used to describe the action of going back to a place or returning to someone.
For example:
Je vais rejoindre ma famille à la maison.
I’m going to return to my family at home.
On va rejoindre nos amis en Espagne.
We are going to join our friends in Spain.
Se rejoindre – To meet – is a reflexive verb, which means that the action is performed on the subject again. This verb is used to describe the action of meeting up with someone. We just saw se joindre, about one person joining someone else. Here with se rejoindre, two people or group of people are moving to meet somewhere. That’s why we have RE in front of joindre.
For example:
Nous allons nous rejoindre à l’aéroport.
We’re going to meet up at the airport.
On était en retard donc on a décidé de se rejoindre directement au magasin.
We were late so we decided to meet directly at the store.
Check out this lesson on my YouTube channel if you prefer learning with a video lesson.
2 Responses
I am fond of all your lessons. Thanks….
Merci Errol 🙂