Instead of repeating a noun and saying "I need glue, and luckily we still have glue," it is much more natural to say "I need glue, and luckily we still have some."
In German, use a form of the indefinite pronoun welcher to say "some" when replacing an unspecified plural or uncountable mass noun.
Matching gender and case
Because welcher functions as a pronoun, it must match the gender and case of the noun it replaces. Most commonly, it acts as a direct object, which requires the accusative case:
| Gender / Number | Accusative Form | Example Noun |
|---|---|---|
| Masculine | welchen | der Kleber (the glue) |
| Feminine | welche | die Pappe (the cardboard) |
| Neuter | welches | das Garn (the yarn) |
| Plural | welche | die Fäden (the threads) |
For a masculine mass noun like der Kleber, use the masculine accusative ending (-en):
| I need glue, and luckily we still have some. | Ich brauche Kleber, und zum Glück haben wir noch welchen. |
For feminine and plural nouns, the ending is -e:
| We not only need cardboard, but we also have to buy some. | Wir brauchen nicht nur Pappe, sondern müssen auch welche kaufen. |
| I don't know where the threads are, but I see some here. | Ich weiß nicht, wo die Fäden sind, aber ich sehe hier welche. |
For a neuter mass noun like das Garn, the ending is -es:
| The yarn is expensive, but she still has some left over and wants to knit today. | Das Garn ist teuer, aber sie hat noch welches übrig und will heute stricken. |
It is frequently used in quick back-and-forth conversation, acting exactly like the English "some":
| I am knitting with the yarn. Do you have wool? Yes, I have some. | Ich stricke mit dem Garn. Hast du Wolle? Ja, ich habe welche. |