Joindre vs Rejoindre

Question

"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?

Cécile Janty-Davies · Accepted 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!