を-, と- and に-particle usage with 合わせる

Question

Recently, I found out that 合わせる can go with many particles.

Jisho gives here (https://jisho.org/search/%E5%90%88%E3%82%8F%E3%81%9B%E3%82%8B) some examples on this:

1. あなたの計画{けいかく} を 私{わたし} に 合わせなさい。Your plan must fit in with
   mine.
2. 君の答{こた}え を 彼{かれ}の答{こた}え と 合わせてみなさい。Check your answers with his.

And on NHK easy Japanese news:

3. 薬を売る店の中には、マスク を 栄養{えいよう}がある飲物など と 合わせて高く売っている店がありました。

And on my smartphone app, as an example:

4. 彼女は花 に ピント と 合わせようとした。

So, と and に are used to match 私 respectively 答え or 飲物 with the object of 合わせる. But in example 4, absolutely no を-particle is used

So my question: are を-, と- and に-Particles here interchangeable? Or does their use depend on properties of the object e.g. like animate vs inanimate (私 vs. 答え) and maybe others, too? Thanks a lot!

Answer 1

AをBと合わせる basically means putting A and B together. B is something similar to A.

• ケチャップをマヨネーズと合わせる: two sauces are mixed
• マスクをドリンクと合わせて売る: two items are treated as a set
• あなたの計画を私(の計画)と合わせる: two plans are merged, forming a bigger plan
• 君の答えを彼の答えと合わせなさい: two answers are placed together and compared (the speaker wants you to check his answer and see the difference)

AをBに合わせる means to make A align with B, to make A the same as B, to coordinate A with B, etc. B is something like an answer, a reference, a standard. A will be modified or adjusted.

• あなたの計画を私(の計画)に合わせる: "your plan" is modified to align with "my plan"
• ピントを花に合わせる: the focus is adjusted with the flower as the reference
• 君の答えを彼の答えに合わせなさい: the speaker wants you to change your answer

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AにBと合わせる (or AとBに合わせる) is ungrammatical. Your example 4 on Tatoeba is simply wrong.