to lay the foundation
34
3.9
- phrasal verb
- /leɪ ðə faʊnˈdeɪʃən/
:
sentar las bases
- Competent intercultural communication skills lay the foundation for meaningful exchanges between people from different cultures.
- lay the foundation for the future
- help lay the foundation
- lay a solid foundation
OK, so we've laid the foundation of what organic leads and paid leads are.
- OK, so we've laid the foundation of what organic leads and paid leads are.
- But back when you were playing it's, it's almost like you had a chance to, to lay the foundation for what West Virginia became.
- They want to begin with the right book, or the best book, or the book that's going to lay down the proper foundation for all of their future studies.
- There would be motions that would lay the foundation for why corporations profits are relevant to punitive damage.
- Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?
- Galton's distinction between nature and nurture lay the foundation for his biological theory of social class.
- He says the intuitions which pure mathematics lays at the foundation of all of its cognitions.
- First of all, just to to lay the foundation in the Russian national psyche.
- Well, Wall Street believed at the very least, at least that the Chinese Party Congress would at least at the least lay the foundation for a strong next five years.
Examples
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Technical committee members all point out that face-to-face discussions laid the foundations for resolving major issues.
Academic text (1999) -
And Claude Shannon is this unbelievably unknown genius who essentially laid the foundation for the information age.
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So just to kind of lay the foundation for this, I remember this is how we sort of first connected and met.
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We have started to lay the foundation for many more open online efforts all across Harvard.
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A new Immigration Bill ending free movement will lay the foundation for a fair, modern and global immigration system.
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Public investment lays the foundations for future growth.
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What structural reforms do you think would lay the foundations for a sustainable recovery?
Blog text (8) -
Mutually understood expectations of teachers and students lay the foundation for a respectful learning relationship.
Academic text (1991) -
In addition, the Babangida regime contends that it is essential to lay a solid economic foundation for the Third Republic.
Academic text (1990) -
Competent intercultural communication skills lay the foundation for meaningful exchanges between people from different cultures.
Synonyms
772
4.1
To start something that is meant to last
179
3.4
Use something you already have as a base for new work
26
3.4
Use something as a base for further work
2
6.3
To cause a small action now that brings bigger effects later
To create a basic plan that guides later work
Start small actions that lead to change later
Antonyms
How Solid
Surface Forms
Morphology
lay + the + foundation
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'lay' (to place or set) with 'foundation' (basic support or groundwork): the expression metaphorically extends the concrete action of placing a foundation to establishing initial conditions. The definite article 'the' is functionally irrelevant, and this construction and metaphor are cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Lay the foundation comes from building. When builders lay the foundation, they put the first strong stones or concrete that will hold the whole building, so the phrase now means 'to create the basic groundwork' that lets something grow or succeed.