Can you make an adverb from a noun by adding に?

Question

I think I understand the pattern　 ...を adverb する　e.g.

彼は彼女を幸せにする

He makes her happy

部屋をきれいにしました

I made my room tidy

I think I'm right in saying that the に in these sentences serves to turn the な-adjective into an adverb.

I got confused when I saw this sentence:

箸{はし}を櫂{かい}にして川{かわ}を上って{のぼって}いきました

This translates as something like "He used chopsticks as oars and went up the river" (not as weird as it sounds, in context). I don't really know how to translate nounをnounにする. Can you please break it down for me and provide some additional examples of this grammar?

Answer 1

I think you're actually asking about にする and not just に. に isn't a verb after all.

It has a lot of uses, each probably worth a question of their own.

Here are some definitions from Jisho.org:

AをBにする

1. to place, or raise, person A to a post or status B
2. to transform A to B; to make A into B; to exchange A for B
3. to make use of A for B; to view A as B; to handle A as if it were B
4. to feel A about B

For the first two sentences, I think in your case it's the second meaning of to transform or make into. Perhaps the third as well, but there the third meaning of to handle as or make use of is better. But yes, it can be attached to nouns and noun-forms.

It has so many particulars to it I don't think a single question or answer can cover it. How and where it's placed, the tense of what it's attached to, affects all of this. So it might be best to ask about a specific use.

Answer 2

I don't think there are any な-adj in the third sentence at all (only nouns, which function like な adjectives), に is used as a general location particle, and is not limited to actual places, the first clause in

箸を櫂にして川を上っていきました

which is

箸を櫂にして

would mean,

"Chopsticks, in (in the form of a) paddle, is done"

"In the way of a paddle, chopsticks were being used." or "In place of a paddle, chosticks were used"

Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to get a natural sounding translation in English as して is extremely context sensitive.

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The second clause,

川を上っていきました

means, to go up the river.

There's no な adjectives there either, but there is を.

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The 'pattern' you mention is actually just two distinct and separate grammar functions.

を is the direct object of the noun (chopsticks is done)

while a noun or な-adj is turned into an adverb-like function using に. There's not really an English equivalent here, as English does not merge adjectives and nouns together.

彼は彼女を幸せにする

would be

As for him, she is done (to happiness, in happiness, in the form of happiness)

or

"He does her happiness", "She is done by him to happiness"

ZはYをXにする is best interpreted as "Z does things that generally lead to Y being X"

部屋をきれいにしました does not have は, so Z is 'I' by context, and the meaning would be "I did things that generally led to room being clean"

箸を櫂にして uses a noun instead of a na adjective, but the gist of it is "(I) do things that generally makes the chopsticks to be a paddle"

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箸を櫂にして川を上っていきました

(I) do things the generally makes the chopsticks to be a paddle, then went up the river.

I'm really terrible at formatting - can someone help me make the answer more readable?