Which sentence sound more idiomatic when we talk to someone now for referring to something specific she/he did before, for example helping someone last night.
I like the way you act last night.
I like the way you acted last night.
I liked the way you act last night.
I liked the way you acted last night.
You can use either:
In this specific context, they mean just about nearly the same thing. The second (liked) has a very small implication that the speaker noticed the action in the past. This doesn't mean that they don't still like it, just that they started to like it last night when the action happened. However, this is very small, and when the speaker liked the action would be clearer in context or maybe not important at all. Both sentences could be used regardless of this distinction.
It is not correct or natural to use the present tense form of act in this context, because we know this verb happened in the past - last night! Therefore, we must use a past tense form of the verb.
I like the way you act last night.
Grammatical error, "act".
I like the way you acted last night.
Until now, I still like your actings last night.
I liked the way you act last night.
Grammatical error, "act".
I liked the way you acted last night.
Now I no longer like although I had liked your actions last night.
