Which One?

[cleung]

Please advise me which one of the following two is correct. Thank you.

1) Mr. Lee is quite interested in and eager to establishing a long-term working relationship with us.

2) Mr. Lee is quite interested in and eager to establish a long-term working relationship with us.

[Coffa]

Please advise me which one of the following two is correct. Thank you.
1) Mr. Lee is quite interested in and eager to establishing a long-term working relationship with us.
2) Mr. Lee is quite interested in and eager to establish a long-term working relationship with us.

No. 2 is correct.

The infinitive forms are 'to establish' (present simple) and 'to be establishing' (present continuous), so only 2) is grammatical.

"Mr. Lee is quite interested in and eager to be establishing a long-term working relationship with us." is grammatical, but would (almost) never be preferred over 2) by native speakers. A guide for EFL speakers is to prefer the present simple over the present continuous unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise. My present continuous sentence above would be universally understood, but instantly sounds very foreign.

[Coffa]

I should correct myself.

2) is not grammatical because 'interested in' requires the present continuous tense

This makes the sentence somewhat of a minefield because the conjoined verbs have different tense requirements... I would rewrite it:

"Mr. Lee is quite interested in establishing a long-term relationship with us; indeed, he is eager to do so."

[cleung]

Dear Coffa,

Thanks very much for taking the time to help me. I really appreciate it, and particularly, I like your rewriting the sentence for me.

[Coffa]

Dear Coffa,
Thanks very much for taking the time to help me. I really appreciate it, and particularly, I like your rewriting the sentence for me.

You're very welcome. By the way, it is also possible to write the sentence as:

"Mr. Lee is quite interested in, and eager to establish, a long-term working relationship with us."