Breakdown of Ich weiß nicht, wo die Fäden sind, aber ich sehe hier welche.
ich
I
sein
to be
hier
here
aber
but
Questions & Answers about Ich weiß nicht, wo die Fäden sind, aber ich sehe hier welche.
Why do we use welche here to mean "some", rather than einige or etwas?
In this sentence, welche is acting as an indefinite pronoun replacing a previously mentioned plural noun (die Fäden). While einige (a few/several) could also work, welche is the most common way in conversational German to say "some (of them)" without repeating the noun. You wouldn't use etwas here, because that is reserved for uncountable mass nouns (like water or time).
What case is welche in, and how do I know the correct ending?
It is in the accusative case because it is the direct object of the verb sehe (I see). Because it refers back to the plural noun Fäden, it takes the plural accusative ending -e, matching the definite article die. If you were instead replacing a masculine singular mass noun in the accusative (like den Käse), the pronoun would become welchen.
Why is the verb sind at the end of the first clause, but sehe stays near the front in the second?
The phrase wo die Fäden sind is an indirect question. This functions as a subordinate clause, which kicks its conjugated verb (sind) to the very end. The second half is a normal main clause introduced by aber. Because aber is a coordinating conjunction (occupying "position zero" in the sentence), it doesn't affect word order, leaving the subject (ich) in position 1 and the verb (sehe) in position 2.
What is the singular form of , and is there a pattern to forming this plural?