Is there a way to say "double + any number" in German?

Question

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!

It's perhaps worth noting that "double X" is also unknown in American English. — TRiG, Aug 06 '19 at 10:39
Do you mean, for example, by dictating a phone number: "Vier, Fünf, Drei, doppel-Sieben, sechsmal die Null"? — user unknown, Aug 06 '19 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 06 '19 at 17:32
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 07 '19 at 06:35

tofro · Answer 1 · 2019-08-05T10:01:26.533

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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"

edited Aug 05 '19 at 10:01

answered Aug 04 '19 at 19:56

tofro

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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 04 '19 at 20:13
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@Alexia All number words are feminine, so die drei is correct. – Ian Aug 05 '19 at 06:02
@Ian thank you very much! – Alexia Aug 05 '19 at 06:50
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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 05 '19 at 08:24
@Alexia, regarding the gender, have a look at https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/36532. Btw, letters are neuter, I do not think that the gender of "Zahl" is relevant for the gender of numbers. – Carsten S Aug 05 '19 at 09:15
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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 05 '19 at 13:58
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@HubertSchölnast This way of expressing them also exists in Germany, but is more colloquial. – glglgl Aug 05 '19 at 14:06
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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 05 '19 at 14:39
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board games: "Ich habe zwei Sechsen gewürfelt". In Austrian lottery: "Sie hatte vier Dreier [erraten/gewonnen]". – dlatikay Aug 05 '19 at 17:42
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The last option also makes it very easy to describe even larger sequences: 777 = "dreimal die Sieben", 7777 = "viermal die Sieben", ... – marsze Aug 06 '19 at 14:29
@Carsten S thank you for the suggestion! – Alexia Aug 06 '19 at 17:37

knut · Answer 2 · 2019-08-05T22:25:08.187

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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:

Doppelzweier
Doppelvierer
Doppelachter (unusual)

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

edited Aug 05 '19 at 22:25

answered Aug 04 '19 at 20:35

knut

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Thank you very much for the clarifications! – Alexia Aug 04 '19 at 20:40
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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 04 '19 at 21:28
@Janka haha that's a useful fun fact! – Alexia Aug 05 '19 at 06:51
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Now explain to OP what a Doppelsechs is ;) – David Vogt Aug 05 '19 at 08:17
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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 05 '19 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 05 '19 at 15:07
Please stop saying "translation". Calling Bond doppel-null sieben is a calque. – Michael Lorton Aug 05 '19 at 21:57
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@Malvolio I learned a new word and used it :) – knut Aug 05 '19 at 22:25
@Malvolio: Please read besc's comment, he is not called "Doppelnull Sieben" in German. – O. R. Mapper Aug 06 '19 at 07:45
Note: Not applicable for post codes, phone and social security numbers. – tofro Aug 06 '19 at 07:52
@O.R.Mapper — it doesn't matter what Bond is called. "Doppelnull Sieben" is a calque. – Michael Lorton Aug 06 '19 at 23:24
@Malvolio: For the purpose of this answer, it arguably does, unless you wish to mislead the OP about how "Doppelnull" is used in German. Also, while I certainly appreciate having learned a new word, note that "calque" is a synonym for "loan translation", thus a calque is still a (specific kind of) translation. – O. R. Mapper Aug 07 '19 at 00:55

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 05 '19 at 07:03

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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.

answered Aug 05 '19 at 07:03

Pollitzer

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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 05 '19 at 08:44
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Doppelfünf habe ich noch nie gehört – äüö Aug 05 '19 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 05 '19 at 16:46
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Doppelsieben appears to be a brand name: https://shop.spreadshirt.de/doppelsieben/ -- surely they wouldn't choose it if people didn't understand it? – Michael Kay Aug 05 '19 at 17:23
@äüö: Sieh mal hier – Pollitzer Aug 05 '19 at 18:45
There are entries in some dictionaries: https://de.pons.com/übersetzung/deutsch-spanisch/Doppelzwei, https://beluka.de/woerterbuch/deutschtuerkisch/Doppeldrei – Jonathan Scholbach Aug 05 '19 at 20:29
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@jonathan.scholbach Seems to be related to Domino. Note that in this case, Doppel-n does not mean the sequence nn (or 10 n + n), but two distinct n (left side/right side). The same goes for Doppelsechs in the knut's answer. – David Vogt Aug 05 '19 at 20:54
"This will be understood by everyone, and you won't reap any astonishment in doing this." - no doubt about the first statement, but I'm not convinced of the second one. – O. R. Mapper Aug 06 '19 at 07:46
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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 06 '19 at 08:03
@Pollitzer: Sicher, die "Verwunderung" hält sich, gemessen an anderen Situationen, sicherlich in Grenzen. Dennoch dürfte "fünf fünf" beim Hören meist überhaupt nicht auffallen, "Doppelfünf" schon eher. – O. R. Mapper Aug 06 '19 at 08:04
@O.R.Mapper "'This will be understood by everyone, and you won't reap any astonishment in doing this.' - no doubt about the first statement, but I'm not convinced of the second one." I can't imagine it would be more astonishing than someone saying "double-five" in English. If you understand something it won't be all that astonishing. You might note how uncommon it is, but understanding is virtually the same as having already experienced, and therefore not finding particularly novel. – Jan Kyu Peblik Aug 06 '19 at 17:56
@JanKyuPeblik: "You might note how uncommon it is" - there you have your "astonishment". – O. R. Mapper Aug 07 '19 at 00:57
No. There's a reason we have both those words. It is uncommon to use the word "astonishment" to refer to something that you might merely say "huh" or pause for a second over. – Jan Kyu Peblik Aug 07 '19 at 02:15

score 6 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 07 '19 at 05:16

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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)

edited Aug 07 '19 at 05:16

V2Blast

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answered Aug 05 '19 at 19:57

HectorLector

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Note: Not applicable for post codes, phone and social security numbers. – tofro Aug 06 '19 at 07:51
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Die Aussage stimmt zwar, trifft aber m.E. nicht das Gefragte. – user unknown Aug 06 '19 at 16:51
@HectorLector thanx for your answer! – Alexia Aug 06 '19 at 18:40

score 4 · Answer 5 · answered Aug 06 '19 at 13:58

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.

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Aug 07 '19 at 13:07

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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.

answered Aug 07 '19 at 13:07

kaHaleMaKai

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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 07 '19 at 16:45

Is there a way to say "double + any number" in German?

6 Answers6

The zero.

The Six

Rowing