How to Write 效 (xiào) — Meaning “Effect; to imitate”

Imagine someone is teaching you a dance move — they say 'Copy (效) my steps!' The left part looks like a person with crossed legs (交) and the right side 攵 is like a hand giving instructions. This helps you remember it means 'to imitate' or 'effect.'

The left component 交 must be written with the top part narrow and the bottom wider, and the right side 攵 starts with a short horizontal stroke then a downward slash. A common mistake is making the left side too wide or forgetting the third stroke in 交 (a left-falling stroke).

效 focuses on effect or imitation (e.g., 效果 'result'), while 放 means 'to put' or 'release' (e.g., 放学 'school lets out') and 政 relates to government or politics (e.g., 政府 'government'). Visually, 效 has 交 on the left, 放 has 方, and 政 has 正 — the right side 攵 is the same for all three.

效 appears in common words like 效率 (efficiency) and 有效 (effective), often in business or academic contexts. It is also used in 模仿 (to imitate), but note that 效 alone carries both the sense of result and copying, making it useful for discussing outcomes and learning from examples.

Common words containing 效 include: 效果 (xiào guǒ) — Effect; result; 效率 (xiào lǜ) — Efficiency; 有效 (yǒu xiào) — effective; valid.