For me, the correct sentence is the first one 'This essay was written in English'. I would use the past simple because the action, to write, was started and finished in the past. The second would mean that the essay wrote something...which I don't think is possible, yet. The third sentence is technically correct but I would change the tense to past simple. Using the present perfect would mean writing the essay in English is relevant in the present... which to me sounds a bit strange. Hope that helps, Andrew

1) If you use past simple, you need time reference, e.g. a month ago, a few years ago etc. An exception would be: "This poem was written by Shakespeare", as it was a long time ago. 2) This one is not correct. 3) This one is correct. The stress is on the fact that it has been written, in English or whatever, the time doesn't matter here. Regards Vladimir

This essay was written in English. Because the writing is finished.