Romanian passive voice (meaning of a/au)

[Belong to God]

Hello,

I am writing this thread to ask what 'a'/'au' mean in the following setence.
Are they the same with 'have' in English?

(1) Problema a fost dezbătută.
(2) Au fost citite cărţile (de Mihai).

 

[danielstan]

'a'/'au' are auxiliary verbs (the verb 'avea' = "to have") used for the Past Tense (perfect compus) form of the verb 'a fi' ("to be")

"a fost dezbătută" = "has been debated"
"au fost citite " = "have been read"