meaningless ing

Time and the meaningless __ing

The number of viewers at 11pm fluctuating greatly.

Be careful if your language does not have this grammar. I see this mistake a lot in the writing of Indonesian IELTS candidates.

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In the opening example, the reader will ask himself "What do you mean? What is the time frame?"

I imagine that the essay question is some kind of graph, table or chart, showing TV viewing figures. The data might be referring to a day in the past, but is more likely referring to every day. Neither of these meanings are given by the writer.

Here are some possibilities:

Happening around now?

Use present continuous tense, remembering to use to be before the verb __ing:

The number of viewers at 11pm is fluctuating greatly.

This means that the number is fluctuating around now.

Happens regularly?

Use present simple tense, remembering to add 's' to the verb if necessary so that the verb (fluctuate) 'agrees' with the subject (number):

The number of viewers at 11pm fluctuates greatly.

This means that the number fluctuates regularly.

Follow this link to learn more about subject/verb agreement.

Happened in the past and finished?

Use past simple tense, taking care to use the correct verb form in the case of irregular verbs:

The number of viewers at 11pm fluctuated greatly.

This means that the number fluctuated regularly in the past but does not fluctuate regularly now.