Electronic Theses and Dissertation

Abstract provides essential information of a study, and therefore, it should be written in good order unless information given can be inadequate. moreover, appropriate tense usage is crucial. however, the provided guide offers little information regarding its usage in abstracts writing. this study aimed to investigate the generic structure and identify preferred verb tenses used in english undergraduates thesis abstracts at muhammadiyah aceh university. in this study, descriptive qualitative research was applied. document analysis was used to collect and analyze the data through observation. based on the data analysis, introduction, method, and product moves were applied in all of the thesis abstracts. meanwhile, the purpose move was not provided in two thesis abstracts. on the other hand, the conclusion move was found only in four thesis abstracts. in contrast, simple present tense was primarily used in introduction and purpose moves. however, both simple present and simple past tense were mixed in method and product move. in conclusion move, simple present tense was used three times. at the same time, simple past tense was used once. in summary, the structure of the thesis abstracts was introduction, purpose, method, and product. in the meantime, simple present tense was frequently used in introduction and purpose. however, in method and product moves, both simple present and simple past tense were dominantly used.