YL pointed out a spelling mistake that made last week's TBDATR incomplete.
VA-TI-RENA, they feared
VA-TIR-ENA, they saw
VA-TIR-E*NA, they grazed
All in Tanach, sound similar but different.

K'RI'AT SH'MA - focus on SH'VA NA
Remember that a SH'VA NA adds a slight vowel sound to the letter it's under; a SH'VA NACH does not. There are 92 SH'VA NAs in SH'MA. 74 of them are at the beginning of a word and cannot really be read incorrectly. SH'MA, not SHMA. Another 11 follow a SH'VA NACH. These too cannot be said wrong. NAF-SH'CHA. NACH under the FEI, NA under the SHIN. That leaves only 7 SH'VA NAs to focus on. Two are under letters with a DAGESH CHAZAK. HADD'VARIM. The DALET is stressed and there is a short vowel sound with it. Almost as if the syllables are HAD and D'VA-RIM.

Not HAD-VARIM. M'TZAVV'CHA. This one is more common to say incorrectly. Not M'TAV and CHA, but M'TAV connected to V'CHA. The remaining five are often read carelessly. L'VA-V'CHA (not L'VAV-CHA), V'TI-RO-SH'CHA (not V'TIROSH- CHA), B'SA-D'CHA (not B'SAD-CHA), HI-SHA-M'RU (not HI-SHAM-RU), V'NA-T'NU (not V'NAT-NU).

Sometimes, a "sloppy" pronunciation of a word, stressing the wrong syllable in a word, even pausing in the wrong place in a verse can cause the meaning of the words to change. This is a "serious" error and ion the case of Torah Reading needs correction by rereading a phrase or verse correctly.

NACHing a SH'VA NA or NAing a NACH can make a difference in meaning, as in VA-YIR-U, and they saw, in contrast to VA-YI-R'U, and they feared. (The former is spelled with one YUD; the latter is most often spelled with two. But there is at least one instance in Tanach where VA-YI-R'U is spelled exactly like VA-YIR -U and the only distinction between the words is the SH'VA NA and NACH under the REISH.

The 7 words from Sh'ma that were flagged do not change meaning is their SH'VAs are NACHed. These would not be classified as "serious" error, merely "sloppy" pronunciations. But when we read the Torah, recite the Sh'ma, or talk to G-d in prayer, we should be diligent.

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