な-adjective + ように

Question

I recently encountered patterns like this:

"これを好きなように使ってください" -> "Please use this as you like."

I googled for grammar surrounding よう and of course I found よう+な, but not a single site listed the above showcased construction. Is this "official" grammar? Meaning it can be found in official standardworks on japanese grammar? Or is it at least a (by now) commonly used pattern?

Answer 1

ように in this case means essentially "in the manner of". It forms an adverbial phrase with whatever it follows. In this case, when you combine it with the な-adjective 好き, it means "in the manner you like" or, as you say, "as you like."