稍(shāo) - slightly, a little in Mandarin

稍 (shāo) means slightly, by a small margin. It is a bound form, which is the whole story of how to use it: it attaches straight to a single-syllable word and the two behave as a unit. 稍等 wait a moment, 稍后 shortly afterwards, 稍冷 slightly cold, 稍好 a bit better.

Because it is bound, it cannot stand alone as an answer and it cannot float free in a sentence. If you want the same idea as an independent adverb, use 稍微, which is happy in front of a longer phrase: 稍微休息一下. Learners who try 我稍累 instead of 我稍微有点累 are hearing the meaning correctly and getting the grammar wrong.

The other thing to watch is that 稍 modifies verbs and adjectives, never nouns, and it points at degree rather than quantity. A little water is 一点水, not 稍水. And keep the character apart from 烧 (shāo, to burn) and 少 (shǎo, few), both of which sound close enough to trip you in a listening exercise.