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On a sample plan of study, I see the word submittal by. I don't see this word much, and I don't get much information from the dictionary.

What is the difference between submittal by and submitted by?


2011 Chinese Government Scholarship for International Students

at University of International Business and Economic


Submittal by

Firstname Lastname

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Hard to tell without seeing it in context but "Submittal by" may be looking for a date when you plan on submitting your finished paper/project. Whereas "submitted by" is looking for the name of the person submitting the plan. –  Jim Aug 19 '12 at 8:48
Yes, more context, please! Why only give us two words? Why not share the whole sentence from the study plan? –  J.R. Aug 19 '12 at 8:59
sorry. it is in the header of study plan, context added –  Sarawut Positwinyu Aug 19 '12 at 9:03
One tells us who wrote it, the other tells us who submitted it. Since those would usually be the same person, it typically makes no difference. –  David Schwartz Mar 4 at 10:31

2 Answers 2

up vote 5 down vote accepted

Either word (submittal or submitted) could work.

If you wrote:

proposal submitted by Sarawut Positwinyu

that would mean that Sarawut submitted the proposal. The proposal would the subject, submitted is the transitive verb, and Sarawut Positwinyu is the object. (Using submitted as a transitive verb here requires the proposal to be submitted by someone, or to someone, such as a committee, or for some reason.)

If you instead wrote:

submittal by Sarawut Positwinyu

submittal is a noun (meaning, that which has been submitted), and the prepositional phrase merely qualifies who submitted the proposal.

As for getting some guidance from the dictionary, check out this entry from Collins. You can see submittal listed as a noun, and submit listed as a verb. In your example, submit would be used as a verb under Meaning #3, to refer something for judgment or consideration.

As Roaring Fish indicated, submitted could also be used as an adjective, as in:

The committee reviewed the submitted report.

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Submittal is a noun, while submitted can be used as an adjective or verb.

They can both convey the same information, but the sentence construction would be different:

  • "This is the submitted work by David" (adj.)
  • "This was a submittal by David" (n.)
  • "This work was submitted by David" (v.)
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Submitted is a verb in past tense. –  Jim Aug 19 '12 at 8:54
"I am buried by submitted homework"? But yeah... not a good example, and it doesn't even have 'by' in it. I'll change it. –  Roaring Fish Aug 19 '12 at 8:58
Submitted can indeed be used as an adjective, but, when followed by by, it's probably a past tense verb. You need to give three examples, not two. –  J.R. Aug 19 '12 at 9:04
I am giving up on this one. The question keeps changing. –  Roaring Fish Aug 19 '12 at 9:12

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