How do I list multiple things that are compound words?
In my own language I'm used to writing these lists like this:
"I kicked foot-, basket-, and volleyball"
The sentence is supposed to mean that I kicked all types of balls (football, basketball and volleyball). However, it does not seem correct to me. Should I write them as whole words, with or without hyphen, or how?
Answer
Basketball, football and volleyball fall under the category of closed compound words. These are combinations of two words that are not separated by a space or a hyphen. For more information on the types of compound words, check this out.
So your sentence should essentially be
I kicked a football, a basketball and a volleyball.
Suspended hyphenation(the case in a phrase like pre- and post-war implying pre-war and post-war) comes into picture only while dealing with hyphenated words. This article will guide you through it.
Hope that helped!
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