Biweekly as one word without a hyphen is the correct version. Also, biweekly can be an adjective. E.g., “It is a biweekly publication.” In addition, biweekly can be an adverb. E.g., “They publish a magazine biweekly.” Furthermore, you can use bi-weekly for the adjective, but it is unnecessary.
The term biweekly has two meanings.
First, it can refer to events that happen every two weeks or fortnightly. In addition, it refers to things that happen twice per week.
As the following examples show, the other words in the sentence indicate which of the two meanings biweekly has.
- We meet biweekly on Mondays and Saturdays for a game of tennis.
- They publish the journal biweekly, so there are 24 issues per year.
The term biweekly combines the root word weekly and the prefix bi, which means two. Most people write the word biweekly as one word without a hyphen in the same way that they write other words with the same prefix, like bipolar or bilingual.
Therefore, when following the rules of AP Style or the Chicago Manual of Style, you should write biweekly as one word with no hyphen.
Using hyphens correctly can be difficult, and you do not want to make a mistake when writing biweekly. Therefore, you should keep reading the rest of the page to learn more about hyphens and when to use them.
Biweekly
The term biweekly as one word with no hyphen is the correct grammar.
In terms of meaning, the word biweekly can be a bit ambiguous because of the two meanings.
The first meaning is to refer to something that happens twice per week.
Review these examples to see what we mean:
- I have biweekly meetings with my boss. We meet every Monday and Friday.
- She attends biweekly yoga classes to maintain her flexibility and reduce stress.
- The committee has biweekly sessions to discuss the progress of the community garden project.
- I have biweekly appointments with my therapist to work on my mental health.
However, biweekly can also refer to things that happen twice per month.
We have shown this in the below sentences:
- I have biweekly meetings with my boss. We meet every two weeks.
- My book club has biweekly gatherings; we meet on the first and third Thursdays of each month.
- The company conducts biweekly payrolls, so employees receive their salaries twice a month.
- She takes her dog for biweekly grooming sessions, scheduled for the beginning and middle of each month.
Furthermore, in the above examples, biweekly is an adjective that describes a noun.
However, it can also be an adverb that describes a verb.
This is shown in the example below, where biweekly describes the verb get together:
- We get together biweekly to discuss the following week’s strategy.
Here are some more examples of biweekly being used in this context:
- They exercise biweekly to maintain their fitness levels.
- We correspond biweekly to keep each other updated on project developments.
- The study group meets biweekly to review course material and prepare for exams.
Bi-weekly
Some people write the term bi-weekly as two words with a hyphen.
In American English, using hyphens for words with prefixes, such as biweekly, was more popular in the early 1900s than today.
However, in the UK bi-weekly was more popular than biweekly until the mid-1980s.
Therefore, while the dictionaries list the term biweekly as one word, some people still write it with a hyphen. This is probably because they assume it is a compound word that has hyphens.
Here are some examples of the term bi-weekly with a hyphen.
- I have been going for bi-weekly check-ups since my operation.
- She attends bi-weekly guitar lessons to improve her musical skills.
- The gardeners come for bi-weekly maintenance to keep the lawn and plants in good shape.
- The team has bi-weekly brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas for the upcoming project.
- He’s been having bi-weekly therapy sessions to work through his emotional challenges.
However, using the hyphen is not necessary, nor is it recommended for AP Style or by the Chicago Manual of Style.
Furthermore, even though using the hyphen is unnecessary, it is not wrong to use it. However, writing biweekly as two separate words, as in bi weekly, is not a correct spelling version.
Bi Weekly
Writing the term bi weekly as two words without a hyphen is incorrect.
The standard way of writing the term is as one word without a hyphen, although some people do use a hyphen and it is acceptable.
These examples show you how to use biweekly and bi-weekly correctly:
- Correct: I take biweekly cooking classes.
- Correct: I take bi-weekly cooking classes.
- Incorrect: I take bi weekly cooking classes.
- Correct: We have biweekly team meetings to discuss progress.
- Correct: We have bi-weekly team meetings to discuss progress.
- Incorrect: We have bi weekly team meetings to discuss progress.
That’s all there is to know about the terms biweekly, bi-weekly, and biweekly. Hopefully, you are no longer in doubt about the grammar rules!