Alors, ce matin-là ....

Question

Why is ce matin-là preferable to cette matinée and why is the latter not acceptable?  I thought that if you wanted emphasis on the morning, you would use matinée vice matin.  I realize that the là added to matin certainly adds the focus, but why is cette matinée not given as another possibility.   As you may have already surmised, I struggle with these masculine / feminine forms for morning, day, evening, year, etc. despite having reviewed the lesson.  Thanks for your guidance in advance.

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Frank,
In French, you will always use "ce matin-là" and not "cette matinée-là".  An example with "ce matin-là" has been added in the lesson too. So apart from "cette année-là", you always use "matin, soir, jour". 
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Hi Frank,As I see it, if we were reflecting on a series of past continuous actions during a period (say) 08:00 to 12:00 then to refer to the morning period we could use matinée.But this story is speculating on an event yet to occur - a future event. So I don't see it as appropriate to classify this as the morning phase of the day (08:00 - 12:00) just simply "the morning."Let's see what others may offer, but this is how I see it.Bonne journéeJim