鞋子(xié zǐ) - shoes, a pair of shoes in Mandarin

鞋子 (xié zi) is the ordinary spoken word for shoes. The 子 on the end carries no meaning of its own; it is the same neutral-tone suffix that gives you 帽子 for hat and 裤子 for trousers, and in speech the syllable is light rather than a full third tone.

Bare 鞋 still exists, but it lives mostly in compounds and shop signs: 皮鞋 for leather shoes, 球鞋 for trainers, 拖鞋 for slippers. When you are simply talking about the things on your feet, 鞋子 is what people say.

The trap is the measure word. English counts shoes in pairs without thinking about it, and Mandarin makes you choose: 一双鞋子 is a pair, 一只鞋子 is one shoe on its own. Ask a shop assistant for 一个鞋子 and you have used the all-purpose 个 where the language expects 双, which sounds as odd as asking for one trouser.