Why say l'après-midi, when it could never be AM?

Question

Hi Team,I understand the below rule and it makes perfect sense...​However, when there is risk of confusion between AM and PM, you will either use the 24-hour clock, OR add precisions like du matin (in the morning), de l'après-midi (in the afternoon)But, why would one say "Il est quatorze heures de l'après-midi." when there is no risk of confusion here and it would never mean anything other than 2pm in the afternoon anyway?It seems unnecessarily specific to me, so I chose not to select this option for the question:What are the ways to SPECIFICALLY say "It is two PM." ?It's like saying, I'm sunbathing under the sun.Thanks

Accepted Answer

Hi Alexander, 
You only use ‘de l’après-midi' and ‘du matin’ with the 12 hour clock.
The passage you quote ends with “.....after the 12 hour clock time.”
‘Il est vingt-deux heures‘ can only be in the evening.
Hope this helps!

Answer

Furthermore, for the question:What are the ways to SPECIFICALLY say "It is ten PM." ?After getting the above questions wrong when I didn't select the precision of de l'après-midi (in the afternoon) , I decided that the below option must be acceptable (but it was wrong):Il est vingt-deux heures du soir.

Answer

Hi Cécile,Thanks for your response :-)The rule makes sense to me, however the issue I had is that when I was presented with the question...What are the ways to SPECIFICALLY say "It is two PM." ?I did NOT select "Il est quatorze heures de l'après-midi." and I got the question wrong and it said that I should have selected this option?Which is contrary to the rule right

Answer

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