Today’s lesson will focus specifically on the verb joindre (Meaning: to join). This verb can cause a lot of confusion as the reflexive form “je me joins à” is required in the context of joining another person or a group. Keep reading and we’ll explain everything.
joindre
to join
Joindre meaning and conjugation
Word origin
The French verb joindre comes from the Latin verb jungere (to join, bring together, connect).
Conjugation
Joindre is an irregular RE verb. This means that when conjugated in the present tense, its ending are different to other regular RE verbs.
Je joins I join
Tu joins You join (singular, informal)
Il, elle joint He she joins
Nous joignons We join
Vous joignez You join (plural, formal)
Ils, elles joignent They join
Example sentences
In our first example sentence, joindre means to connect, join or link.
Une route joint les deux côtés de la vallée.
A road joins both sides of the valley.
In this example, joindre means “combine” in the context of combining efforts.
Nous avons dû joindre nos efforts pour trouver plus de clients.
We combined our efforts to find more clients.
Joindre can also mean to reach, contact or “get hold of”. In this example, the expression avoir du mal à means to have a hard or difficult time doing something.
J’ai du mal à vous joindre. Où êtes-vous ?
I’m having a hard time getting hold of you. Where are you?
Se joindre à = to join a person or group
In the reflexive form, se joindre à means “to join” in the context of joining a group of people or club. For example, “Puis-je me joindre à vous?” (May I join you?). This lesson on our site explains French reflexive verbs in detail.
Je vais me joindre à un club de ski cet hiver.
I’m going to join a ski club this winter.
Rejoindre = to meet with
This next example is packed lots of fun stuff! In the reflexive from, se rejoindre means “to meet up” and is synonymous with se retrouver. The Complete French All-in-One book by Annie Hemingway explains this very clearly in the book’s Confusing Verbs section.
On se rejoint au café à 17h00, d’accord ?
Let’s meet at the café at 5pm, okay?
The French personal pronoun on (meaning “one”) has lots of usages and translations, which we cover in this lesson. D’accord (alright, agreed) also has several translations, which we cover here. This lesson covers telling time.
Ci-joint = attached
Finally, ci-joint is used to mean “attached” in the context of writing letters. Veuillez is the imperative form of vouloir (to want) and is formal way of saying please.
Veuillez voir le document ci-joint.
Please see the document attached.
Conclusion
Et voilà ! You now have a good understanding of how to use joindre (to join) in French! Now check out our lesson covering the verb profiter, which means “to enjoy” or “to make the most of”.
