Cette après-midi

Question

Why is this feminine? I wrote cet après-midi, because I understood afternoon was masculine in French.

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Deborah,
You are correct that 'après-midi' can be masculine or feminine. Both options are accepted in this dictation exercise. Although L'Académie française does recommend the masculine form: as it is commonly used in the masculine form and 'midi' is masculine too - see link here: après-midi-ProjetVoltaire
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Hi Deborah,You raise an interesting point here.Have a look at this link I think will help you understand:-https://www.wordreference.com/fren/apr%C3%A8s-midiBonne journéeJim

Answer

I think “après-midi” is a unique case where we are all free to choose it to be masculine or feminine at our whim. And there is no wrong answer. (Wouldn’t it be good if there were more words like this!) So I think that “cet après-midi” and “cette après-midi” should both have been marked as correct.