Listing multiple compound words

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?


Solution 1:

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!