Joindre is the verb to join, to connect — physically (joindre les mains — clasp one's hands), administratively (joindre un document — attach a document), and, in its most everyday modern sense, to contact or reach someone (je n'arrive pas à le joindre — I can't reach him on the phone). It is the canonical -oindre verb, sharing its conjugation pattern with all the other -indre verbs (peindre, craindre, atteindre, éteindre) but using the vowel sequence oi- in the singular and -oign- in the plural.
The conjugation feature you must internalize is the two-stem alternation: join- in the singular present (je joins, tu joins, il joint — all /ʒwɛ̃/) and joign- in the plural and most other paradigms (nous joignons, vous joignez, ils joignent, with palatal /ɲ/). The -d- of the infinitive is silent in the spoken paradigms and surfaces only in the written futur stem (joindr-) and the past participle joint.
The participle joint deserves special attention because it has taken on a life of its own in modern administrative and email-age French. Ci-joint — literally "joined hereto" — is the standard formula for "enclosed" or "attached" in correspondence (veuillez trouver ci-joint… — please find enclosed…). The agreement rules for ci-joint are a small minefield that even native speakers occasionally trip over.
This page is the verb-reference entry: every paradigm, every compound tense, the contact sense, the ci-joint agreement rules, and the -oindre family. Use it as a lookup. The detail pages cover individual topics in depth.
The simple tenses
These are the tenses formed without an auxiliary — the basic conjugational paradigms. Joindre uses the join-/joign- alternation throughout.
Présent de l'indicatif
The two-stem alternation. Singular forms all pronounced /ʒwɛ̃/ — silent -s and -t. Plural shifts to joign- with palatal /ɲ/.
| Person | Form | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| je | joins | /ʒwɛ̃/ |
| tu | joins | /ʒwɛ̃/ |
| il / elle / on | joint | /ʒwɛ̃/ |
| nous | joignons | /ʒwaɲɔ̃/ |
| vous | joignez | /ʒwaɲe/ |
| ils / elles | joignent | /ʒwaɲ/ |
A pronunciation detail: in the plural forms, the oi in joign- is /wa/ (as in moi, toi), giving /ʒwa-/. The gn is the palatal /ɲ/. Native speakers say /ʒwaɲɔ̃/, not /ʒwagnɔ̃/.
The contact sense — joindre quelqu'un (reach someone, get in touch) — is fully productive in this tense. Je te joins demain means "I'll get in touch tomorrow." The verb has been adopted for telephone, email, text — any modern channel.
Je n'arrive pas à le joindre depuis ce matin.
I haven't been able to reach him since this morning.
Comment peut-on vous joindre en cas d'urgence ?
How can we reach you in case of emergency?
Ils joignent toujours leur facture au courrier.
They always include their invoice with the mail.
Imparfait
Built on the stem joign- (from nous joignons) plus the regular imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | joignais |
| tu | joignais |
| il / elle / on | joignait |
| nous | joignions |
| vous | joigniez |
| ils / elles | joignaient |
Avant les portables, on joignait les gens par téléphone fixe.
Before cell phones, we used to reach people by landline.
On n'arrivait pas à le joindre, alors on a laissé un message.
We couldn't reach him, so we left a message.
Passé simple (literary)
Stem joigni-. Endings follow the -i- pattern.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | joignis |
| tu | joignis |
| il / elle / on | joignit |
| nous | joignîmes |
| vous | joignîtes |
| ils / elles | joignirent |
The circumflex on joignîmes, joignîtes is obligatory.
Il joignit les mains et ferma les yeux.
He clasped his hands and closed his eyes. (literary)
Futur simple
Stem joindr-. The -d- of the infinitive resurfaces in writing.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | joindrai |
| tu | joindras |
| il / elle / on | joindra |
| nous | joindrons |
| vous | joindrez |
| ils / elles | joindront |
Je te joindrai demain matin pour confirmer.
I'll get in touch tomorrow morning to confirm.
On joindra le chèque à la lettre.
We'll include the check with the letter.
Conditionnel présent
Same joindr- stem, with imparfait endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| je | joindrais |
| tu | joindrais |
| il / elle / on | joindrait |
| nous | joindrions |
| vous | joindriez |
| ils / elles | joindraient |
Pourriez-vous me joindre cet après-midi, s'il vous plaît ?
Could you contact me this afternoon, please?
Subjonctif présent
Built on the joign- stem throughout, with regular subjunctive endings.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (que) je | joigne |
| (que) tu | joignes |
| (qu')il / elle / on | joigne |
| (que) nous | joignions |
| (que) vous | joigniez |
| (qu')ils / elles | joignent |
Il faut que tu joignes le formulaire à ta candidature.
You need to attach the form to your application.
J'aimerais qu'on joigne nos forces pour ce projet.
I'd like us to join forces for this project.
Impératif
Three forms.
| Person | Form |
|---|---|
| (tu) | joins |
| (nous) | joignons |
| (vous) | joignez |
Joins-moi dès que tu peux.
Get in touch with me as soon as you can.
Joignez vos pièces justificatives en pièce jointe.
Attach your supporting documents as an attachment.
Participles and gérondif
- Participe passé: joint (with feminine jointe /ʒwɛ̃t/, masculine plural joints, feminine plural jointes) — silent -t in masculine, audible in feminine
- Participe présent: joignant
- Gérondif: en joignant
The participle joint has spawned a productive set of nouns and idiomatic uses: un joint is a gasket or seal (and, in slang, a marijuana cigarette); une pièce jointe is an email attachment; ci-joint is the formula for "enclosed/attached" (covered in detail below).
En joignant les bonnes personnes, on peut tout obtenir.
By contacting the right people, you can get anything.
Vous trouverez la facture jointe à ce courriel.
You'll find the invoice attached to this email.
The compound tenses
Joindre uses avoir as its auxiliary. The participle joint agrees with a preceding direct object.
Passé composé
avoir (présent) + joint
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| j' | ai joint | I joined / I've joined |
| tu | as joint | you joined |
| il / elle / on | a joint | he/she/we joined |
| nous | avons joint | we joined |
| vous | avez joint | you joined |
| ils / elles | ont joint | they joined |
J'ai joint Marie ce matin, elle est d'accord.
I got in touch with Marie this morning, she's okay with it.
On a joint les deux dossiers en un seul.
We've combined the two files into one.
Plus-que-parfait
avoir (imparfait) + joint
J'avais déjà joint le service technique avant ton message.
I'd already contacted technical support before your message.
Futur antérieur
avoir (futur) + joint
Quand vous aurez joint tous les documents, envoyez le dossier.
Once you've attached all the documents, send the file.
Conditionnel passé
avoir (conditionnel) + joint
Sans son aide, je n'aurais jamais joint le bon interlocuteur.
Without his help, I'd never have reached the right person.
Subjonctif passé
avoir (subjonctif) + joint
Je suis content que tu aies enfin joint tes parents.
I'm glad you've finally gotten in touch with your parents.
The four core uses
1. Join / connect physically
The literal sense — to physically connect two things, to clasp, to put together.
Joins les deux extrémités du fil.
Join the two ends of the wire.
Elle a joint les mains pour prier.
She clasped her hands to pray.
On a joint les deux tables pour faire de la place.
We pushed the two tables together to make room.
2. Contact / reach someone (the everyday sense)
By far the most common modern use. Joindre quelqu'un — to reach someone, to get in touch with them by any channel (phone, email, text, in person).
Je n'arrive pas à le joindre — il ne répond pas.
I can't reach him — he's not answering.
On peut me joindre au 06 12 34 56 78.
You can reach me at 06 12 34 56 78.
Je vous joindrai par mail dans la journée.
I'll get in touch with you by email today.
This use is one of the most reliable signs of natural French in administrative and professional contexts. Contacter exists and is correct, but joindre is far more common in everyday speech: je vais le joindre sounds completely native; je vais le contacter sounds slightly more formal or written.
3. Attach / enclose (correspondence and documents)
The administrative sense — to attach or enclose something with a letter, an email, or a file.
Je joins une copie du contrat à ce courriel.
I'm attaching a copy of the contract to this email.
Veuillez joindre une pièce d'identité à votre dossier.
Please attach a piece of ID to your file.
Tu as oublié de joindre la facture.
You forgot to attach the invoice.
The noun une pièce jointe — literally "an attached piece" — is the standard term for an email attachment. The abbreviation PJ appears at the end of formal letters: PJ : 1 chèque, 1 RIB (enclosures: 1 check, 1 bank-account form).
4. Join (an organization, a group)
The institutional sense — to join a club, a movement, a team. Note that the more common verb here is often rejoindre (literally "rejoin," but used for "join"); joindre itself is slightly less common in this sense.
Il a joint le club de tennis l'année dernière.
He joined the tennis club last year.
Joindre les rangs de l'armée n'a jamais été facile.
Joining the ranks of the army has never been easy.
For "join us!" the typical formula is rejoignez-nous ! — not joignez-nous, which would sound oddly literal. See the rejoindre discussion below.
Ci-joint: the agreement minefield
Ci-joint is the formula for "enclosed" or "attached" in correspondence — a fixed expression that has survived from the age of paper letters into the age of email. Ci- is an old adverbial element meaning "here"; joint is the past participle. Together they mean "joined here" — i.e., enclosed.
Veuillez trouver ci-joint le document demandé.
Please find enclosed the requested document.
Ci-joint, vous trouverez les deux factures impayées.
Enclosed, you will find the two unpaid invoices.
The agreement rules are surprisingly subtle. Ci-joint can be either invariable (always ci-joint) or variable (agreeing in gender and number: ci-jointe, ci-joints, ci-jointes) depending on its position in the sentence:
| Position | Agreement? | Example |
|---|---|---|
| At the beginning of the sentence | Invariable | Ci-joint la facture. |
| Before the noun (no determiner) | Invariable | Vous trouverez ci-joint copie du contrat. |
| Before the noun (with determiner) | Either is acceptable | Ci-joint(e) la facture demandée. |
| After the noun | Agrees with the noun | La facture ci-jointe… |
Ci-joint la lettre de motivation.
Enclosed is the cover letter. (invariable — sentence-initial)
Vous trouverez ci-joint la facture et le bon de commande.
You will find attached the invoice and the order form. (invariable — before noun)
Les pièces ci-jointes sont essentielles.
The enclosed documents are essential. (agrees — after noun)
In practice, native speakers default to invariable ci-joint in nearly all cases — the agreement rule is a piece of grammatical fine-tuning that even educated French writers often skip. Learners are safe defaulting to invariable ci-joint in modern correspondence.
High-frequency joindre idioms
- joindre les deux bouts — to make ends meet (literally: "join the two ends")
- joindre l'utile à l'agréable — to combine business with pleasure (literally: "join the useful to the pleasant")
- joindre ses efforts à ceux de — to join one's efforts with someone's
- ci-joint / ci-joints / ci-jointe / ci-jointes — enclosed, attached
- en pièce jointe — as an attachment (in email)
- joindre par téléphone / mail / SMS — reach by phone / email / text
- se joindre à qqn — to join someone (in an activity)
Avec un seul salaire, c'est dur de joindre les deux bouts.
On a single salary, it's hard to make ends meet.
J'aime mon métier — je joins l'utile à l'agréable.
I love my job — I combine business with pleasure.
Tu peux te joindre à nous pour le dîner ?
Can you join us for dinner?
The reflexive se joindre à is the standard way to say "join (a group)" in social contexts: je me joins à toi — I'll join you. Without the reflexive, je te joins shifts to the contact sense ("I'll get in touch with you").
The -oindre family: rejoindre, adjoindre, etc.
Joindre is the model for the entire -oindre sub-family, which contains a handful of high-frequency derived verbs.
| Verb | Meaning | 1sg present | 3pl present | Past participle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| joindre | to join / contact | je joins | ils joignent | joint |
| rejoindre | to rejoin / catch up with | je rejoins | ils rejoignent | rejoint |
| adjoindre | to adjoin / append | j'adjoins | ils adjoignent | adjoint |
| conjoindre | to conjoin (rare/technical) | je conjoins | ils conjoignent | conjoint |
| disjoindre | to disjoin / separate | je disjoins | ils disjoignent | disjoint |
Rejoindre — the one to know
Rejoindre is by far the most useful compound. It means to catch up with, to meet up with, to rejoin — and it is the standard verb for "join us" or "I'll meet you there" in social and travel contexts. Where English uses "join" loosely, French often uses rejoindre.
Je vous rejoins au restaurant à vingt heures.
I'll meet you at the restaurant at eight.
Va devant, je te rejoins dans cinq minutes.
Go ahead, I'll catch up in five minutes.
Rejoignez-nous sur les réseaux sociaux !
Join us on social media!
The participles also live productive lives as nouns: un adjoint is a deputy or assistant (un adjoint au maire — deputy mayor); un conjoint / une conjointe is a spouse or partner.
Mon conjoint travaille à l'hôpital.
My spouse works at the hospital.
L'adjointe au maire vient d'arriver.
The deputy mayor has just arrived.
Comparison with English
Three friction points:
- The contact sense. English "join" never means "contact" — but French joindre quelqu'un is the standard everyday verb for reaching someone by phone or email. English speakers tend to use contacter, which is correct but more formal. Joindre is more natural.
- The two-stem alternation. Like all -indre verbs, joindre alternates between join- (singular, /ʒwɛ̃/) and joign- (plural, /ʒwaɲ/). Failing to make the switch is a giveaway error.
- Rejoindre, not joindre, for "join us." English "join us!" maps to French rejoignez-nous ! (not joignez-nous, which would be unnatural). The morpheme re- doesn't carry its usual "again" meaning here — rejoindre is the default verb.
The literal "join / connect" sense lines up cleanly. The ci-joint convention has no clean English equivalent — "enclosed" is the closest, but with subtler usage rules.
Common Mistakes
Mistake 1: Using joindre for "join us."
❌ Joignez-nous pour le dîner !
Awkward — for joining a group socially, French uses rejoindre or se joindre à.
✅ Rejoignez-nous pour le dîner !
Join us for dinner!
Mistake 2: Pronouncing gn as /gn/.
❌ /ʒwagnɔ̃/ for joignons
Wrong — gn is /ɲ/, the palatal nasal.
✅ /ʒwaɲɔ̃/ for joignons
Correct pronunciation.
Mistake 3: Pluralizing ci-joint when it precedes the noun without a determiner.
❌ Vous trouverez ci-jointes copies du contrat.
Wrong — before a noun without a determiner, ci-joint stays invariable.
✅ Vous trouverez ci-joint copies du contrat.
You will find enclosed copies of the contract.
Mistake 4: Using contacter where joindre is more natural.
Je n'ai pas pu te contacter hier.
Acceptable but slightly stiff — joindre is more natural in everyday speech.
Je n'ai pas pu te joindre hier.
I couldn't reach you yesterday. (more natural)
Mistake 5: Forgetting agreement on the past participle.
❌ Les documents que j'ai joint à mon mail.
Wrong — joint must agree with the preceding masculine plural direct object les documents.
✅ Les documents que j'ai joints à mon mail.
The documents I attached to my email.
Key takeaways
Joindre is the verb to join, connect, attach — and, in its most everyday modern sense, to reach or contact someone (je n'arrive pas à le joindre). It is the canonical -oindre verb, sharing the -indre family conjugation with peindre, craindre, atteindre, éteindre.
The defining feature is the two-stem alternation: join- in the singular present (/ʒwɛ̃/, silent endings), joign- throughout the plural and most other paradigms (with palatal /ɲ/). The futur stem joindr- reintroduces the silent -d- of the infinitive.
In compound tenses, joindre takes avoir: j'ai joint, j'avais joint, j'aurai joint. The participle joint agrees with a preceding direct object. The frozen formula ci-joint (enclosed/attached) follows special agreement rules — invariable before the noun, agreeing after. In practice, default to invariable.
Three uses are essential: joindre quelqu'un (contact someone — the everyday use), joindre un document (attach a document), and the idiom joindre les deux bouts (make ends meet). The compound rejoindre (meet up with, catch up with) is the verb for "join us" socially.
Memorize the paradigms cold; reread the ci-joint table; use the page as a lookup. Joindre is a verb you will use every time you make a phone call, send an email with an attachment, or arrange a rendezvous — making it one of the highest-yield -indre verbs to master.
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