Complex Sentence

Question

I am having difficulty figuring out how to draw a syntax tree for the sentence:

"Bill reported that a student asked whether the eclipse would occur."

Im confused on which word is the complementiser (that, whether or would?)

Thank you for any help!

Answer 1

A complementizer converts some phrase (usually an S) into a complement. In the form of a phrase structure rule,

Complement -> Complementizer S

In your example, the complementizer "that" converts the S "a student asked whether the eclipse would occur" into the complement "that a student asked whether the eclipse would occur", and the complementizer "whether" converts the S "the eclipse would occur" into the complement "whether the eclipse would occur".