Sample Tree Diagram Process, Continued

You’ll notice that unlike many sentences, the NP part of this sentence is very long. NPs can be further subdivided into their constituent parts. This particular NP is very complex, with some embedded parts.

First, note that the noun phrase is mapped as NP = NP + ADJP.

This is how our sentence fits this pattern:

KNOWN AS GUILLAME LE BATARD IN FRENCH BECAUSE OF HIS DUBIOUS PARENTAGE

is an ADJECTIVAL (FUNCTION) phrase, modifying the NP William the Conqueror. In its FORM, it is a past participle phrase.

We could break this ADJECTIVAL phrase down further, as it contains two ADVERBIAL prepositional phrases within the adjectival phrase, but we will leave this phrase as is for now. You'll find this is a very common structure in English: when prepositional phrases or participle phrases immediately follow nouns, they may be modifying the noun.

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