Let H, K be two finitely generated subgroups of a free group, let H, K denote the subgroup generated by H, K, called the join of H, K, and let neither of H, K have finite index in H, K . We prove the existence of an epimorphism ζ : H, K → F 2 , where F 2 is a free group of rank 2, such that the restriction of ζ on both H and K is injective and the restrictionis surjective. This is obtained as a corollary of an analogous result on rank of the generalized join of two finitely generated subgroups in a free group.