盒子

盒子 (hézi) is a noun meaning a small-to-medium box or case — typically a rigid container with a lid, used to hold small objects. Think of a gift box, a jewelry box, a lunch box, a pencil case, or a takeout container. The 子 is an unstressed noun suffix (neutral tone) with no meaning of its own; the root character 盒 already means 'box.'

Unlike the English 'box,' which covers everything from a tiny ring box to a large shipping carton, 盒子 leans small and often implies a nicer, lidded container. For a large cardboard shipping box, Chinese speakers say 箱子 (xiāngzi) instead. So the 盒子 / 箱子 split maps roughly to 'box (small, lidded)' vs 'carton/trunk (large).'