Transactional writing · Grade 3

In Grade 3 you learn: diary entries; invitations and notices.

Transactional writing does a job in real life: it records, informs, invites or asks for something. In CAPS you write diary entries, dialogues, notices, invitations, CVs, reports, agendas and minutes. Each one has its own layout, so learn the format as well as the words.

Key facts

  • A diary entry is personal: the date or Dear Diary, the first person, the past tense for what happened and your feelings about it.
  • A notice is short and clear: a heading, the key facts (what, when, where) and who it is from. An invitation gives the occasion, the date, the time, the venue and how to reply (RSVP).

Worked examples

Example 1

What kind of text is this? You are invited to Lerato's 13th birthday party! Saturday 3 June, 2 p.m., 12 Oak Street. Please reply by 25 May.

Answer: an invitation

Example 2

Write the start of a diary entry about a day at the beach.

Answer: Saturday 5 March. Dear Diary, Today was the best day ever! We went to the beach.

Example 3

What must an invitation include?

Answer: what the event is, when and where it is, who it is from, and how to reply

Other years