Look carefully at these words
VA-TI-RE-NA
VA-TIR-E-NA
VA-TIR-E-NA
The first is from this week's sedra, referring to the midwives - And they feared G-d. The ALEF is unvoweled and is therefore totally silent, absent really. VA-TI-RE-NA.
As opposed to the second word (which does not appear in Tanach) which is VA-TIR-E-NA, the ALEF contributes to that word's pronunciation. It means and they saw.
The third word is only a sound alike for Ashkenazim who consider AYIN to be a silent letter. The word is from Par'o's dream and means they were grazing.
Watch for totally silent ALEFs.

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