This is an important distinction to note when purchasing bonds. The word biennial is usually used to mean “occurring every two years,” but its similarity to biannual makes a misunderstanding possible. The main difference between something that happens biannually vs. semiannually is the time between the events during the year. An example of semiannual in finance would be a bond that pays the bondholder interest semiannually.
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Since biannual and biennial are the real problem, writer Bryan Garner (2016) recommends that you avoid them entirely, and use every other year instead. Semiannual means occurring twice a year, the adverb form is semiannually. Semiannual and Biannual are interchangeable, their definitions are the same. It also decides that the dividend will be distributed on a semiannual basis; the shareholders will receive one dividend payment of $0.50 twice a year for a total dividend amount of $1 for the year.
biannual vs. semiannual: What’s the difference?
Biannual, biennial, and semiannual are adjectives that describe the frequency at which events occur. Also, remember that “bi-annual” has a second meaning; it can also signify an event that happens every other year. However, keep in mind that you can also use “bi-annual” to refer to something that happens twice a year. In this case, you won’t imply exact timing or if an event occurs precisely six months apart. A semiannual financial report is a company’s unaudited financial report for the previous six months.
However, writers must balance clarity with concision, making semiannual a useful choice for something that happens at that frequency. Biennial is an adjective meaning “takes place every two years.” It means that a recurring event happens one year, then misses a year, and takes place again the following year, and so on. In a botanical context, “biennial” can be both an adjective to describe that a plant has a two-year lifecycle and a noun to refer to plants with a lifecycle of two years. On the other hand, the prefix “semi” means “half.” So, if you are attending an event held semi-annually, it happens once in each half of the year – about every six months – for a total of two times per year. The prefix “bi” means “two” or “twice.” So, anything that happens two times per year regardless of the time between the occurrences is biannual.
Many resources on grammar and writing concede that these terms are so similar that you can use them interchangeably. However, there are some subtle differences between the context and implications of the words. The meanings of these words are so identical that many questions if there’s a difference between semi-annual vs. bi-annual.
Biannual vs. Semiannual: What’s the Difference?
These words are so similar that it’s easy to confuse them in your writing. To avoid inadvertently misleading your readership, you should strive to write as clearly as possible. Biannual is an adjective that specifies the frequency of occurrence. Biennial is an adjective which means occurring every two years, or every other year. Also, a biennial plant is one that takes two years to grow from its planting to its death. Biennial comes from the Latin biennium, which means a two year period.
What Is the Difference Between Biannual and Semiannual?
Biannual is an adjective which means occurring twice a year, the adverb form is biannually. Although you can often use either semi-annual or bi-annual, a good trick for remembering their differences is to look at the meanings of each prefix. You should use the term “bi-annual” to refer to an event that occurs every other year. Often, you will find competitions, contests, special events, or performances using “bi-annual” rather than semi-annual. Semi-annual vs. bi-annual have nearly identical meanings that it can be head-scratching to know which one to use. In this article, we’ll teach you the differences between these two confusing terms and the best choice when describing something that happens twice a year.
Biannual, Semiannual, and Biennial Examples
Semiannual refers to events that occur twice every year, usually six months apart. It is commonly used in a financial context, such as how often bonds pay interest. The term can be confused with other similar-sounding terms, such as biennial, which means an event occurring every two years.
This means the bond would make an interest payment twice a year, usually six months biannual vs semiannual apart. So a bondholder would receive the first interest payment in June, for example, and the second payment in December. To this end, best practice is to write around the confusion introduced by these terms. Use semiannual to refer to things which happen twice a year.
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- A bond is usually described in the yield that it pays the bondholder.
- Both terms are often confused with “biennial,” which means an event occurring every two years.
- Biannual is an adjective that specifies the frequency of occurrence.
- A third adjective, biennial, describes something that occurs every other year.
Other times, very similar words will refer to different ideas, introducing confusion. We are a community of people passionate about learning languages. Learn your favorite language in 1-on-1 online lessons wherever you are whenever you want. I’m an ESL teacher with over 7 years of experience in providing original content. I really like writing educational articles which may help others learn some aspects of English.
Company ABC has performed well in the last five years, continuously making a profit and growing earnings. The company decides it will start paying its shareholders dividends to distribute a portion of the earnings. ABC’s management decides it will distribute a dividend of $0.50 for every share.
