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Auxiliary Verb (Be-verb) In passive constructions, the form of be (is, am, are, was, were, been, being) that combines with the past participle to create the passive verb phrase. The tense of the passive sentence is encoded in the auxiliary, not in the main verb. Example: “is broken” (present), “was broken” (past), “will be broken” (future). Selecting the wrong auxiliary is the single most common error in tense-based voice change questions.
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