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When using Indefinite Pronouns, the verb is in the "3rd personal singular" form. When adding a Tag Question, we invert the sense of the verb (+ to - and - to +). So, it's OK to say:

Somebody is there, isn't it?

Nobody has arrived, have they?

I'm sure about the first tag question, but not about the second one. Is the tag OK? If I write "hasn't they" it doesn't make any sense to me.

I'll appreciate if somebody could help me solving this doubt.

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The first one should be:

Somebody is there, aren't they?

And the second is right:

Nobody has arrived, have they?

You are changing the number of the pronoun, 'somebody' is 1 person, but by the end of the sentence you are talking about 'they' which is more than one person, so the use of (is) must change to (are).

The same goes for the second sentence, has -> have

Note: 'Nobody has' probably counts as a negative verb, so I use 'have' instead of 'haven't'.

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  • Thank you for answering my question. I understand that even when an Indefinite Pronoun uses a "3rd personal singular" verb form, in fact you can refer to any person. That's why I'm using "they" in the Tag. Am I OK?
    – Silvia
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 16:44
  • 'nobody' refers to one person, but you don't know who, it could be anyone, so therefore 'they'
    – JMP
    Commented Mar 18, 2015 at 17:05
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Three conditions are necessary to use 'has' 1 Singular number 2 Third person 3 Present tense

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    It's not entirely clear how this addresses the first tag question. Can you edit to be clearer?
    – Nathan Tuggy
    Commented Dec 18, 2015 at 7:28

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