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The Late Shipment: the passive in every tense for shipping delays

A B2 Business English lesson plan on the passive in every tense for delays in shipping and supply.

Grammar
The passive with be in every tense (is being unloaded, has been rerouted), modal passives like must be told, by + agent, and verbs with no passive.
Topic
Supply chain delays, from ships sent around Africa since late 2023 to one late container of Ethiopian coffee, with words such as lead time, reroute and out of stock.
Activities
An article on the Red Sea detour, a call about the late container, self-checking drills, a chat breaking the news to a hotel client, a wheel, and a delay email and recording as homework.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: Where's My Order?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and discussOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the vocabulary: shipping and supplyVocabularyTry it
    • Match the phrases to the situationsMatchUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Reading: The Long Way Around

    • Read the article: the long way aroundArticleUnlock
    • True or false? Read the article againTrue or falseUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: the articleQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Listening: Somewhere off Africa

    • Listen to Ana and RyanListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: the late containerQuizUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: It Has Been Rerouted

    • Study the scheme: the passive in all tensesGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct option: passive formsChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: put the verbs in the passiveFill in the gapsTry it
    • Choose the correct option: active or passive?Choose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the table: make the sentences passiveFill in the tableUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Speaking: Breaking the News

    • Choose the best replyChatTry it
    • Spin the wheel and speakSpin the wheelUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework: Keep Them in the Loop

    • Drag the words into the gaps: from the farm to the cupDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: phrases and meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Write an email: tell your clients about a delayWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record yourself: describe a processSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

22 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Shipping and supply chain vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • a detour
  • until further notice
  • freight costs
  • a ripple effect
  • out of stock
  • safety stock
  • keep someone in the loop

Grammar: the passive in all tenses

News about a late shipment is about the goods, not the people who move them: The sailing has been moved. Learners build the passive with be in every tense and with modals, add by + agent only when it helps, and learn that verbs such as arrive and happen have no passive.

The passive in all tenses

Say what happens to the coffee, not who does it

Be + past participle

The passive starts with the thing the action happens to, then a form of be and the past participle: The container was loaded in Djibouti. Add by + who did it only when it matters: The sailing has been moved by the shipping line.

the thing the action happens tobe in the right tensepast participle(by + who did it)

The container was loaded in Djibouti.

The sailing has been moved by the shipping line.

One verb, every tense

Only be changes; the participle stays the same: is shipped, is being unloaded, was loaded, was being loaded, has been rerouted, had been made, will be delivered, is going to be placed. Modals work the same way: Orders can be placed earlier. Clients must be told.

TenseActivePassive
Present simpleWe ship the coffee every month.The coffee is shipped every month.
Present continuousThey are unloading the container now.The container is being unloaded now.
Past simpleThey loaded it last week.It was loaded last week.
Past continuousThey were loading it when the email came.It was being loaded when the email came.
Present perfectThey have rerouted the ship.The ship has been rerouted.
Past perfectThey had already made the decision.The decision had already been made.
willWe will deliver your order on Friday.Your order will be delivered on Friday.
going toWe're going to place the order earlier.The order is going to be placed earlier.
ModalsWe can't guarantee the date. We must tell clients.The date can't be guaranteed. Clients must be told.

When to choose the passive

Use it when the action matters more than who did it, or when you don't know or needn't say who: The sailing has been moved. Reports, notices and process descriptions are full of it: The beans are roasted in small batches.

  • The action matters more than who did it: The container was loaded last week.
  • We don't know, or don't need to say, who did it: The sailing has been moved.
  • Reports, notices and process descriptions: The beans are roasted in small batches.
  • Add by + who did it only when it's useful: The decision was made by the shipping line.
  • When the subject does the action, use the active: Ryan has informed the cafés.

Being or been? Read the time markers

Being is for work in progress (The last bags are being roasted today.); been is for work that's done (The new date hasn't been confirmed yet.). Time markers help: as we speak takes is being done, by the time takes had been done.

is being or has been?

is being + past participle: happening now

  • The last bags are being roasted today.
  • The online store is being updated right now.

has been + past participle: done, the result matters now

  • The ship has been rerouted.
  • The new date hasn't been confirmed yet.

Time markers tell you the tense

now, at the moment, as we speak → is being done · last week, yesterday → was done · when + a past event that interrupts it → was being done · already, yet, since (up to now) → has been done · by the time + the past → had been done · next week, tomorrow → will be done

No passive for arrive, happen and occur

Verbs with no object have no passive: arrive, happen, occur, rise, take place. So it's The container arrived late, never was arrived. But don't drop be where a passive is needed: The shipment was delayed by three weeks, not The shipment delayed.

No passive for verbs without an object

Arrive, happen, occur, go, come, stay, rise and take place have no object, so they have no passive: The container arrived late (not "was arrived"). It has happened before (not "has been happened").

Typical mistakes: passive or not?

  • The container was arrived late.

    The container arrived late.

    Arrive has no object, so no passive.

  • The problem was occurred at sea.

    The problem occurred at sea.

    Occur and happen: no passive.

  • The shipment delayed by three weeks.

    The shipment was delayed by three weeks.

    Don't forget be.

Typical mistakes: the wrong form

  • The coffee has been ship.

    The coffee has been shipped.

    Always the past participle: shipped, sent, told.

  • The bags are been roasted now.

    The bags are being roasted now.

    Happening now: being. Done: been.

  • Clients must be tell today.

    Clients must be told today.

    Modal + be + past participle.

More lessons on this grammar: Passive voice lessons and exercises

Try the passive in all tenses exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 3 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 1 picture
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • form the passive in every tense, from is shipped and was being loaded to had been made and is going to be placed
  • tell work in progress from finished work: The online store is being updated. The ship has been rerouted.
  • use modal passives and keep verbs like arrive and happen active: Clients must be told. The container arrived late.
  • tell a client about a delay: what has happened, what is being done and when the order will be delivered

Lesson 10 belongs to Problems and growth, the third unit of Business English B2 · A Year at Wrenfield, which follows a fictional Portland roaster through a complaint, a delay, a launch and a hire. It is the course's first lesson on the passive and puts tenses met earlier, from the present continuous of lesson 1 to the future forms of lesson 5, into the passive; lesson 11 then compares products. Delay notices suit the passive, since they report what happens to goods, not who moves them.

The warm-up opens boxes of questions about late deliveries, then teaches ten phrases with pictures and audio, from lead time to keep someone in the loop. An article explains why, from late 2023, the big container lines sent their ships around the Cape of Good Hope. In the AI-voiced call, sourcing and logistics deal with a container of Ethiopian coffee that will arrive about three weeks late. Four self-checking drills follow the scheme, ending with a table that turns active sentences passive. In the chat, students tell a hotel client her order is delayed, and a wheel asks for processes and delay role-plays.

Homework starts with three self-checking exercises: coffee's journey from farm to cup in the passive, a choice of correct sentences and a memory game. Students then write clients an email about a delay with four passive forms in different tenses and record a description of a process at work; the teacher reviews both.

Grammar:
the passive · passive in all tenses · modal passive · intransitive verbs
Topic:
logistics · supply chain delays · Red Sea shipping crisis · informing clients

Teaching tips

  • Sketch the two routes on the board: Asia to Europe through Suez, then around the Cape. Learners explain the detour in the passive: Ships were sent around Africa. Deliveries were delayed.
  • Pause the call after each piece of news and ask whether it has been done, is being done or will be done; learners write each line in the right column.
  • Ask in-company learners to describe their own processes, such as how an order is processed or a new colleague is hired, in the passive; it rehearses the recording task with their real work.
  • With one-to-one clients, rewrite a real delay notice: take an email they've sent or received, without names, and turn it into a passive update on what has been done and what will be done.

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The whole course: Business English B2 · A Year at Wrenfield

20 lessons at B2 in American English that follow a year at Wrenfield Coffee Roasters in Portland, Oregon, as founder Claire Morgan and her team win a Dutch hotel contract. Learners network, write emails, run meetings, negotiate, handle complaints and present figures, with one grammar point per lesson.See the course

  1. Unit 1 First contacts

    networking, a company story, a business lunch and emails: present tenses, the present perfect, question tags, indirect questions

    1. Lesson 1Making ContactsPresent simple and present continuous at work
    2. Lesson 2Our Story: From Cart to RoasteryPresent perfect and past simple for company history
    3. Lesson 3The Business LunchQuestion tags and short answers
    4. Lesson 4Emails That Get AnswersIndirect questions and polite requests

  2. Unit 2 Meetings and figures

    scheduling, sales figures, running a meeting and negotiating: future forms, trends, gerunds and infinitives, conditionals

    1. Lesson 5Setting Up MeetingsFuture forms for meetings and schedules
    2. Lesson 6The Monthly FiguresDescribing trends
    3. Lesson 7Running a MeetingGerunds and infinitives in meetings
    4. Lesson 8Negotiating a DealFirst and second conditionals in a negotiation

  3. Unit 3 Problems and growth

    a complaint, a late shipment, a launch and hiring: the present perfect continuous, the passive, comparatives, relative clauses

    1. Lesson 9Handling a ComplaintPresent perfect simple vs continuous
    2. Lesson 10 · you're hereThe Late ShipmentThe passive in all tenses
    3. Lesson 11Launching a ProductComparatives and superlatives with modifiers
    4. Lesson 12Hiring the Right PersonDefining and non-defining relative clauses

  4. Unit 4 Reports, prices and feedback

    reporting back, explaining prices, expenses and feedback: reported speech, linking words, modals of obligation, past modals

    1. Lesson 13Reporting BackSay vs tell in reported speech
    2. Lesson 14Explaining PricesLinking words of contrast, cause and result
    3. Lesson 15Travel and Expenses: Can I Claim That?Modals of obligation, prohibition and permission
    4. Lesson 16Giving FeedbackShould have, could have and didn't need to

  5. Unit 5 Looking back and ahead

    what went wrong, other cultures, an agency and next year: the third and mixed conditionals, past deduction, the causative, the future perfect

    1. Lesson 17What Went WrongThird and mixed conditionals
    2. Lesson 18Working Across CulturesModals of deduction, present and past
    3. Lesson 19Working with an AgencyCausative have and get
    4. Lesson 20The Road AheadFuture continuous and future perfect

Questions about this lesson

How do you form the passive voice in all tenses?
The passive is be in the right tense + the past participle: is shipped, is being unloaded, was loaded, was being loaded, has been rerouted, had been made, will be delivered, is going to be placed. Only be changes; the participle never does. The scheme of The Late Shipment on edio.ai sets active and passive side by side in each tense.
What is a modal passive?
A modal passive is a modal verb + be + a past participle: Orders can be placed earlier. Clients must be told. Our Kenyan coffee could be delivered next week. It suits rules, possibilities and offers when the person doing the action doesn't matter. Two mistakes are common: dropping be (must told) and using the base form instead of the participle (must be tell).
When should you use the passive in business English?
Use the passive when the action matters more than who did it, or when you don't know or needn't say who: The sailing has been moved. Reports, notices and process descriptions use it a lot: The beans are roasted in small batches. Add by + the doer only when it's useful (The decision was made by the shipping line), and stay active when the subject acts: Ryan has informed the cafés.
What's the difference between "is being done" and "has been done"?
Is being done means it's happening now; has been done means finished, with a result that matters now. The online store is being updated says the work is in progress; The ship has been rerouted reports a change already made. Don't mix the two forms: The bags are been roasted is wrong. In The Late Shipment on edio.ai, a logistics call uses both: The last bags are being roasted today.
Is it "the container arrived late" or "the container was arrived late"?
It's the container arrived late, with no passive, because arrive has no object. The same goes for happen, occur, rise and take place: What happened to the ship?, not What was happened, and Freight costs rose, not were risen. The opposite mistake drops be from a real passive: The shipment was delayed by three weeks, not The shipment delayed.
What does lead time mean?
Lead time is how long an order takes to arrive, from the day you place it to the day it's delivered. A longer route stretches it: When ships are sent the long way around, lead times get longer. Companies plan for it: East African coffee will be ordered six weeks earlier. In The Late Shipment, a B2 Business English lesson on edio.ai, it opens ten word cards on shipping and supply.
What does "out of stock" mean?
Out of stock means not available to buy right now, because none is left: The Sidama will be out of stock in the cafés and online for a couple of weeks. The opposite is in stock: We have plenty in stock. To avoid running out when a shipment is late, companies keep safety stock, extra goods held in case of delays.
What supply chain vocabulary do you need to explain a delay?
To explain a delay, you need words for time, routes, costs and stock: lead time, reroute, a detour, freight costs, out of stock and safety stock. Add a ripple effect for indirect results and until further notice for a change with no end date. With clients, I'll keep you in the loop promises updates. All of them are word cards with pictures and audio in The Late Shipment on edio.ai.
How do you write a shipping delay email?
A shipping delay email says what has happened, what is being done and when, with an apology and a promise of updates. The passive keeps the focus on the order: Your order has been delayed because the ship was sent around Africa. The new arrival date hasn't been confirmed yet. Offer an alternative if you can (Our Kenyan coffee could be delivered next week) and write a clear subject line.
How do I teach the passive in all tenses to business English learners?
Teach it through a process and a piece of news: a process for the present simple (The beans are roasted…), then a delay that needs the other tenses (has been rerouted, is being updated, will be delivered). Let learners sort sentences by their time markers, then turn active sentences into passive ones. In-company groups can describe their own workflows; one-to-one clients can rewrite a real update.
What's good homework for practicing the passive?
Good homework pairs a process to describe with news to report: a product's journey in the present simple passive (The beans are dried in the sun), then an email about a delay in several tenses (has been delayed, is being checked, will be delivered). In the B2 lesson The Late Shipment on edio.ai, three self-checking exercises come first; the email and a spoken description of a work process go to the teacher.
Are there interactive exercises for the passive in all tenses?
Yes: gap-fills that run through the tenses check each form as learners type it. Without an account, this page plays three parts of The Late Shipment, a B2 Business English lesson on edio.ai: a logistics call about a container sent around Africa, a gap-fill from is shipped to is going to be ordered, and a chat breaking the news of a delay to a hotel client. The other exercises are locked.
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