点

点 (diǎn) is one of the busiest characters in HSK 1. Its three core uses: (1) telling time on the hour — 三点 (sān diǎn) means 'three o'clock,' and you always use 点 for the hour slot, never 小时; (2) a small quantity, written 一点 / 一点儿 (yìdiǎn / yìdiǎnr), meaning 'a little / a bit,' as in 有点累 ('a bit tired') or 喝一点水 ('drink a little water'); (3) the literal sense of 'dot, point, spot.' English splits these meanings across different words ('o'clock,' 'a little,' 'dot'), but Chinese collapses them into one character whose context tells you which sense applies. As a verb, 点 also means 'to order' (food at a restaurant) — 点菜 (diǎn cài). All these uses are everyday speech.

Memory hook: Four dots at the bottom = think 'tiny dots' = 'a little bit,' or a dot on the clock face = 'o'clock.'