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In English one can say "double seven" (any number 0-9 could be in the place of 7) and it is equivalent to 7 7. In German can someone say doppelt sieben? I have not found such instances. I have found the word "doppelt" in instances like: "doppelt so viel", "die doppelte Menge".

Is there a way to say something like "double seven" (or any number 0-9) in German (apart from saying the number twice :p)and have the meaning 7 7 ?

Thank you!

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    It's perhaps worth noting that "double X" is also unknown in American English.
    – TRiG
    Aug 6, 2019 at 10:39
  • Do you mean, for example, by dictating a phone number: "Vier, Fünf, Drei, doppel-Sieben, sechsmal die Null"?
    – user unknown
    Aug 6, 2019 at 16:48
  • Yes, when dictating a card number or a phone number ( i assume that the behaviour is the same): "Vier, Fünf, Drei, doppel-Sieben, sechsmal die Null".
    – Alexia
    Aug 6, 2019 at 17:32
  • There is also the Schnapszahl which is a repdigit.
    – zomega
    Aug 6, 2019 at 19:09
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    I would probably say, "zweimal sieben" or something along those lines. It's hard to imagine I wouldn't be understood given the context ofcourse.
    – ouflak
    Aug 7, 2019 at 6:35

6 Answers 6

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No, that is not common practice.

You can spell out the digits "sieben-sieben" or the number "siebenundsiebzig" or can say "zweimal die Sieben" (Numbers are generally feminine in German).

"Doppel-..." is commonly used for letters, however: "Bitte schreibt man mit Doppel-t"

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    Thank you very very much! We can say accordingly "zweimal die drei", right? My question has to do with the article "die". It is there because the word "die Zahl" is implied, right?
    – Alexia
    Aug 4, 2019 at 20:13
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    @Alexia All number words are feminine, so die drei is correct.
    – Ian
    Aug 5, 2019 at 6:02
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    And it should be upper case, of course: "die Sieben". In Bavarian dialects, numbers are preferred to be masculine and with -er ending: "der Siebener", "der Dreier". Because of this, "zwei Siebener" is a common way to refer to dobule seven in Austria.
    – rexkogitans
    Aug 5, 2019 at 8:24
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    @tofro: You wrote: »Numbers are generally feminine in German« It should be »... in Germany«. Because they are masculine in Austria (»der Siebener«, »zwei Siebener«)
    – Hubert Schölnast
    Aug 5, 2019 at 13:58
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    @HubertSchölnast You comment is a bit misleading. In Austria, it's "die Sieben" (this word is also used in written language in Austria), but "der Siebener" - as I already commented earlier.
    – rexkogitans
    Aug 5, 2019 at 14:39
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It is already correct answered: It is not a common practice.

But there are exceptions:

The zero.

There are two usages for the Doppel-Null:

  • There are double-zero agents (Doppel-Null-Agenten) in James Bond and
  • the American Roulette also contains a "Doppelnull"

This expressions are not origin German, they are calques of English expressions.

The Six

The "Doppel-Sechs" is a strategy in soccer games. See also Wikipedia

Rowing

A similar expression can be found in rowing sport. Attention: This numbers have a -er at the end (Achter instead Acht).

Different boats are called by the number of oars:

See also https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skull#Skullbootsklassen

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    Note a Null is someone with zero competence in colloqial German, so a Doppelnull-Agent as used in the German dub of the James Bond movies occassionally is unwillingly funny. Of course, Sean Connery could cover that crack with ease.
    – Janka
    Aug 4, 2019 at 21:28
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    Now explain to OP what a Doppelsechs is ;)
    – David Vogt
    Aug 5, 2019 at 8:17
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    Re James Bond: But note that the actual number of a »Doppel-Null-Agent« is always pronounced digit by digit. »007« is always »null null sieben«, never »doppel-null sieben«.
    – besc
    Aug 5, 2019 at 12:18
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    I'm inclined to say that terms like "Doppel-Null" exist in german because they are translations of english proper nouns - like "Double O" for Bond or "Double Zero" in roulette
    – Michael A. Schaffrath
    Aug 5, 2019 at 15:07
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    @Malvolio I learned a new word and used it :)
    – knut
    Aug 5, 2019 at 22:25
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There is a way to say »double + any number« in German. Some of us pronounce a phone number (or any other) like this:

drei, vier, sieben, Doppelfünf, acht, sechs, eins
(347 55 861)

This will be understood by everyone, and you won't reap any astonishment in doing this.

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    It's impossible for me to refute that some people say that. However, it seems misleading to suggest to OP that this would not cause astonishment (because it is not common practice, as you seem to agree).
    – David Vogt
    Aug 5, 2019 at 8:44
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    Doppelfünf habe ich noch nie gehört
    – äüö
    Aug 5, 2019 at 10:31
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    Could it be a regional thing, if some users have and others haven't heard of it?
    – Arsak
    Aug 5, 2019 at 16:46
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    Doppelsieben appears to be a brand name: shop.spreadshirt.de/doppelsieben -- surely they wouldn't choose it if people didn't understand it?
    – Michael Kay
    Aug 5, 2019 at 17:23
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    @O.R.Mapper: Ein »Doppel« bzw. »doppel« kannst du zahlreichen Wörtern voranstellen, es sind gängige Teile des deutschen Baukastensystems, schon allein deshalb sollte es niemand verwundern.
    – Pollitzer
    Aug 6, 2019 at 8:03
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In the case of games (especially games with dice) we use the term "Pasch" to mean double X.

e.g. "Vierer-Pasch" = 4 4

From Wikipedia:

Der Begriff Pasch bezeichnet bei Spielen einen Wurf mit mehreren Würfeln bei Würfel- oder Brettspielen, bei dem zwei oder mehr Würfel die gleiche Augenzahl zeigen. Man spricht dabei von einem x-er-Pasch (Dreier-Pasch, Vierer-Pasch usw.), wenn zwei oder mehr Würfel die gleiche Punktzahl zeigen.

(I am from Austria, if it matters)

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  • 4
    Note: Not applicable for post codes, phone and social security numbers.
    – tofro
    Aug 6, 2019 at 7:51
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    Die Aussage stimmt zwar, trifft aber m.E. nicht das Gefragte.
    – user unknown
    Aug 6, 2019 at 16:51
  • @HectorLector thanx for your answer!
    – Alexia
    Aug 6, 2019 at 18:40
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There's a perfectly clear and unambiguous way of doing this. Just say how many copies you want, and then the name of the number in plural.

  • Zwei Einsen.
  • Zwei Zweien.
  • Zwei Siebenen.

Moreover, I agree with Pollitzer that Doppelsieben is also clear, unambiguous and shorter.

Thus, e.g. 923333602111088084 could be pronounced

Neun, Zwei, vier Dreien, Sechs, Null, Zwei, drei Einsen, Null, Doppelacht, Null, Acht, Vier.

However, this has the potential of confusing the listener: if the “vier Dreien” isn't spoken too slowly, the listener will parse it as “Vier, Dreien, ...»en«??” Make sure you say the “vier Dreien” quickly enough, almost as it were a single word, so the listener doesn't parse it as a separate “Vier”.

In practice I think I'd actually say viermal die Drei to avoid this misunderstanding. So it would rather sound

Neun, Zwei, viermaldieDrei, Sechs, Null, Zwei, dreimaldieEins, Null, Doppelacht, Null, Acht, Vier.

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At least in the game of backgammon, it is common: played with 2 dices, you often say "Ich habe doppel-fünf" or similar instead of "Ich habe einen Fünferpasch". But I have not heard it with any other game or situation ever.

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    I thought of backgammon as well. We have to consider that there is probably a great deal of English influence in the backgammon terminology because the British players shaped the game in its renaissance during the 20th century.
    – Peter - Reinstate Monica
    Aug 7, 2019 at 16:45

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