Everybody should treat their parents with respect, … ?

Step 1: Analyze the question This tests question tags. A question tag is a short question added to the end of a statement. The tag must agree with the statement in two ways:

• Polarity: a positive statement takes a negative tag, and a negative statement takes a positive tag.
• Subject and auxiliary: the tag uses the same auxiliary verb as the statement, with a pronoun that matches the subject.

Step 2: Apply the rules

• Statement: "Everybody should treat their parents with respect."
• The statement is positive, so the tag must be negative. This eliminates A and D, which are both positive.
• The auxiliary verb is should, so the tag is shouldn't.
• The subject is everybody. In question tags, indefinite pronouns such as everybody, everyone, somebody, someone, nobody, no one take the pronoun they. This is why the sentence itself uses "their".

So the tag is shouldn't they?

Step 3: Check the other options

• A. should they: positive tag after a positive statement, so it is wrong.
• C. shouldn't we: the polarity is right, but "we" does not match the subject "everybody".
• D. should we: wrong polarity and wrong pronoun.

Complete sentence: Everybody should treat their parents with respect, shouldn't they?

Answer: B

Exam tip: For tags, check two things in order:

1. Flip the polarity (positive becomes negative, and the reverse).
2. Match the pronoun to the subject. Remember that everybody, everyone, somebody, nobody all take they, and nothing, something, everything take it.