Who was this play written by?

[GeneD]

Who was this play written by?

This sentence sounds very unusual to me. It even took me some time to realise what its meaning was. How common are such passive voice questions? I mean questions with "by".

 

[teechar]

It can certainly work in the right context. Why do you find it so unusual?

 

[GeneD]

I don't know. Maybe because I can't remember I've ever heard or seen such structures written. And also maybe because it would be so familiar to me in the active form (Who wrote this play?).

 

[emsr2d2]

There is nothing wrong with the passive version but I would normally expect to see "Who wrote this play?"