Sample Tree Diagram Process, Continued

Let’s move on to our analysis of the verb phrase. Verb phrases break down to MV (a mandatory constituent) plus other constituents, depending on the clause type.

This VP contains an MV and another NP, a common pattern in English clauses.  In fact, there are two main verbs, joined with a coordinating conjunction. Remember that coordinating conjunctions can join two or more like constituents (words, phrases, or clauses); in this case, the conjunction AND is joining two VPs to a single subject NP.

Let’s start with the first:

invaded Britain (MVP + NP2).

This is how the words are mapped onto the tree:

We can see that this noun phrase, Britain, contains a single noun which is not the same as the subject (NP1).

Next