Add a suitable question tag to the following sentence:
Someone is knocking at the back door, ________?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → aren’t they
Question tag after “someone”:
Words like someone and everyone become “they” in the tag. “They” takes “are”, so the helping verb “is” becomes “are” in the tag. The sentence is positive, so the tag is negative: “aren’t they”.
Complete sentence: Someone is knocking at the back door, aren’t they?
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 2: isn’t it — Incorrect. “It” stands for a thing, not a person. Example: The back door is open, isn’t it?
Option 3: are they — Incorrect. This is a positive tag. It goes with a negative sentence. Example: The neighbours aren’t at home today, are they?
Option 4: don’t they — Incorrect. “Don’t” is used only when the sentence has no helping verb. Example: The neighbours keep a dog, don’t they?