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The みたい and に I'm referring to here are from a song called [Don't you
see!](http://www.kasi-time.com/item-5138.html) The first two lines of the
lyrics are:

友達に手紙を書くときみたいに  
スラスラ言葉が出てくればいいのに

If I understand it correctly, the に is used to link the two lines. But I'm not
sure what kind of grammar it is. Although there is a grammar that a
な-adjective can be converted to an adverb by appending a に to it, the みたい
doesn't seem to be a な-adjective.

P.S. Here is the shorter version of the song, if by any chance it can help
interpreting the meaning: [link](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OeYwdKcP0o).
CC BY-SA 3.0
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question
particle-に
What's the use to append a に after みたい?
`noun + みたい` works and conjugates like ordinary na-adjectives, and this に is
there to make it work as an adverb. The "友達に手紙を書くときみたいに" part as a whole
functions as an adverbial phrase which modifies 出てくる in the second line.

<http://www.guidetojapanese.org/similar.html#part3>

> ### Using 「みたい」 to say something looks like something else
>
> Attach 「みたい」 to the noun that bears the resemblance. 「みたい」 conjugates like a
> noun or na-adjective and not an i-adjective.

A monolingual dictionary [categorizes みたいだ as an auxiliary
verb](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/212086/meaning/m0u/) (助動詞), but that
seems to be just because みたいな by itself does not form a standalone na-
adjective. Perhaps it doesn't mean `noun + みたい` can't be treated like a na-
adjective.
CC BY-SA 3.0
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answer