有效期

• Pinyin: yǒu xiào qī
• Hanzi breakdown: 有 = have; 效 = 交 + 攴 (intersect + strike — effect/result); 期 = 月 + 其 (moon/month + phonetic — period/term)

Meaning

Validity period; period of effectiveness; expiration date. The duration during which something is officially valid.

Used for passports (护照有效期), visas (签证有效期), medicines (药品有效期), food products (食品有效期), offers (优惠有效期), and contracts (合同有效期). 有效期至 means 'valid until.' 过了有效期 means 'past the expiration date.' Extremely common in legal, administrative, and daily life contexts.

Examples

1. 旅客因护照有效期不足六个月被拒登机，因为目的地要求入境时护照仍剩半年以上。 The traveler was denied boarding because the passport's validity was under six months, while the destination requires more than six months remaining on entry.
2. 抽检发现部分进口化妆品有效期标注不规范，甚至被篡改，监管部门已责令下架并罚款。 Inspections found that some imported cosmetics had improper validity labeling, and some were even altered; regulators have ordered them removed and fined the sellers.
3. 合同有效期的设计要兼顾行业周期、汇率波动和法律限制，在稳定合作与保留退出空间间取得平衡。 Designing a contract's validity period must balance industry cycles, exchange-rate fluctuations, and legal limits, finding a balance between stable cooperation and room to exit.

Usage Guide

Context: legal, administrative, daily life, commerce

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 申请签证前，请确认护照有效期至少还有六个月，否则材料可能被退回。(Before applying for a visa, please make sure your passport has at least six months of validity left, or your materials may be returned.)
• 过有效期的药品不得再用于临床，医院应登记后集中销毁。(Medicines past their validity period may no longer be used clinically, and hospitals should register them and destroy them centrally.)

Don't Say

• 这个笑话的有效期已经过了 — while colloquially used, this metaphorical usage should be avoided in formal contexts; use 这个笑话已经过时了 (this joke is outdated) or 这个梗已经不好笑了 for informal registers instead

Origin & History

有效 (effective/valid — 有 have + 效 effect/result) + 期 (period/date — 月 moon/month + 其 phonetic; a period measured by lunar cycles). Together: the period during which something is valid.

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal