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I've read "some " vs. "some of " and “Some” vs “some of” with adjective but I'm still having trouble figuring out in which cases "some of the" should always be replaced with just "some".

I've encountered this problem when trying to apply fixes from LanguageTool to texts from a game. Including examples with most of the context there is prior to "some of the":

A towering coniferous tree that belongs to the 'Pinus' genus, with the New England species varying from 'P. strobus', 'P. resinosa' and 'P. rigida'. Some of the branches have been stripped away...

This wattle-and-daub wall has some of the wooden strip lattice in place...

This binder details the scheduled maintenance for several plumbing systems throughout the facility. However, some of the log sheets seem to be filled with

This massive antique book documents dances from all around the world in great detail. A perceptive reader could learn a lot about defensive footwork from some of the war dances.

This hefty binder contains a multitude of diagrams and technical specifications for various electronic materials. Some of the diagrams use symbols you've not seen before

This textbook details the military history of ancient China, with a particular focus on the nature of historical arms and armor. It also details some of the equipment used by other cultures

You were an avid fencer, starting with foil and moving onto saber, then épée. You competed nationally and dabbled with some of the historical fencing weapons

I've talked to some of the traders who have been there

Some of the others in the shelter got stung

There are much more where these came from and I'm not looking for solutions just to these ones but for a rule of thumb to quickly decide whether the change is absolutely required.

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In all your examples, the refers to a particular group of people or things, of which some are mentioned specially.

Some of the branches of a particular tree (at least, I assume that's what it refers to).

Some of the wooden strip lattice which would originally have been part of the wall.

Some of the log sheets in the binder - and so on.

There is no reason to change any of these to just some.

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  • Well, I've found one instance where it seems appropriate: "Some of the bridges, they're right next to each other, right?" because it is the start of a hint and it means just any bridges in the game.
    – int_ua
    Aug 1, 2020 at 8:36
  • OK, but "Some of the branches of a particular tree" can mean two things: 1 Some of all the branches of a tree 2 Some of the branches (mentioned before) of a tree. In essence, we get 1 Some of all the branches 2 some of some of the branches
    – user1425
    Feb 21 at 17:13

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