The most important tenses to know for the ACT are present (for habitual actions), past (for actions completed in the past), future (for future actions), and the present/past/future progressive tenses (for continuing actions). Most important tip to remember: if an action is ongoing, or was ongoing, make sure to use helping verbs, such as “am,” “was,” “had been,” or “will be.”
Example: I dance (present), I danced (past), I will dance (future), I am dancing (present progressive), I was dancing (past progressive), I will be dancing (future progressive).