The phrase "a poor foundation" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe something that lacks a solid basis or support, whether in a literal or metaphorical sense.
Example: "The project's failure can be attributed to a poor foundation in its initial planning stages."
Alternatives: "an inadequate basis" or "a weak groundwork."
As a result, he said, the nuclear industry's "thinking about safety had a poor foundation".
I wouldn't be the first to say that a lie is a poor foundation on which to build a family (or anything else, for that matter).
Several education experts agreed that the lackluster performance among high school students might reflect a poor foundation in the basics of reading, math and science at earlier grades.
The sociologist Max Weber and other scholars have argued that Islam is inherently a poor foundation for capitalism, and some have pointed in particular to Islamic qualms about paying interest on loans.
The resort is on Anguilla, in the British West Indies, a flat, uninspiring-looking island about 16 miles long, formed on limestone rock, a poor foundation to nourish vegetation.
But passivity in the face of egregious crimes by the state or by guerrillas is a poor foundation on which to build the rule of law something which many Latin American democracies still lack.A segment of the Latin American left still hankers after revolution.
Seeking economic harmony with criminals seems like a pretty poor foundation for an economic recovery.
Paul L. Whiteley Sr .Louisville, Ky., April 23, 2008 To the Editor: Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is doing her country and her party a service by exposing the poor foundation on which this romance with Senator Barack Obama is based.
Consequently, there is a poor scientific foundation for restoration designs.
Traditional guidelines to choose the length at which the transferred muscle should be attached have a poor scientific foundation.
This poor foundation exposes them to high business risks, difficulty in securing financial support from formal institutions and patronage by informal moneylenders at a higher interest rate.
