Past passive voice, with or without "был"?

Question

Is there any difference in meaning in the past passive voice used with or without "был"?Москва основана в 1147 году.Москва была основана в 1147 году.

Answer 1

Students of Russian often fail to notice the similarities between English and Russian, and this is a case in point.

The first of your sentences says "Moscow is founded in 1147." That makes it a statement in the historical present.

The second of your sentences is the one that we would expect--a statement about the past :"Moscow was founded in 1147."

Thus, one can have present passive statements, and past passive statements. In the first, the verbs is naturally in the present tense, and in the second the verb is naturallly in the past tense.