Улий, посмотри это, пожалуйста!
https://www.lingvolive.com/en-us/community/posts/1396200

Russ, that looks like you're making someone kneel. TO HAVE SOMEONE ON THEIR KNEES means to have them at your or someone else's mercy, in a position of total powerlessness. "The coronavirus has escalated into a pandemic and presently has the world on its knees." Tatiana, perhaps you can help us with a proper translation?

What you are describing above sounds in Russian as "Поставить кого-то на колени"

👍🏼

Yes, we use it both literally and figiratevely.

Good to know))

We don’t. We use MAKE SOMEONE KNEEL/TAKE THE KNEE/GET ON THEIR KNEES in the literal sense, and HAVE SOMEONE ON THEIR KNEES in the figurative.

Good to know too!)) 👍

Also, it’s important to note that there are two interpretations possible: (1) the moment you BRING SOMEONE TO THEIR KNEES as a momentary action; and (2) the resulting state/condition of HAVING SOMEONE ON THEIR KNEES.

(1) Last month, the coronavirus brought the city of NY to its knees. (2) The coronavirus has the city of NY on its knees as death tolls continue to mount.

The correct Russian translation will refer to this state and not to the initial act.

That's probably why I wouldn't like поставить на колени in a Russian version of your snippet.

Exactly, That was my thought all along. It doesn’t look right.

There must be an expression in Russian that means to be at the mercy of someone

So if we're not referring to the moment when you make the person get on their knees, but to the state of being in a helpless state/at the mercy of someone or something, how would this be translated? For instance: The coronavirus has the city of NY on its knees.

Нью-Йорк во власти коронавируса.

Interestingly, поставить на колени refers both to the moment you bring someone to their knees and the resulting state of having someone on their knees. So Russ' translation is actually correct. It just doesn't sit right with me in your example. I even googled вирус поставил на колени, which gave no results.

That’s interesting because this expression is mostly used in the figurative sense to refer to a state. So I’m not doubting the correctness of Russ’ translation, just whether it accurately reflects what the expression refers to in actual use.

Funny enough, someone yet used вирус поставил на колени referring to a situation in China, but with quite another kind of virus. So you can hypothetically use it, if you like. I don't.))

https://www.rbc.ua/rus/digests/novyy-mobilnyy-virus-postavil-na-koleni-tseluyu-stranu-12112010153700

If you don’t like the example with the virus, replace it with a heatwave. That’s not what’s in question here - it’s the presentation of the situation as a state of being, and not an initial act. “A record heatwave has the city of New York on its knees.”

Expressions with HAVE SOMEONE... refer to putting someone in a certain situation and keeping them there, like a prisoner.

“My son HAS ME WORRYING about him all the time with his constant drinking.”

Uly, you made me realize that a lot of Russian verbs/verbal expressions, albeit being perfective, can refer to both bringing someone to a particular state and for them being in that particular state, e. g. поработил, подавил and so on.

Ok, that’s what I suspected. In other words, this expression can refer to both BRINGING someone to their knees and HAVING them there?

>>“My son HAS ME WORRYING about him all the time with his constant drinking.”
Aha! This kind of sentence has always been a challenge. On the one part, you want to keep this "has me worrying" and, naturally, translate as заставляет меня волноваться/беспокоиться за него. On the other hand, заставляет (or whatever) + another word isn't something that sounds really natural in Russian. So I'd interpret that as Я постоянно волнуюсь беспокоюсь за сына, потому что он пьёт/злоупотребляeт алкоголем. In Russian, this simple structure implies both the reason for me to worry and my condition due to that reason.

Yes, I think that’s the only way to express it in Russian. It basically means to take someone to a certain point and keep them there.

>>Ok, that’s what I suspected. In other words, this expression can refer to both BRINGING someone to their knees and HAVING them there?
Exactly!))

Cool 😎

Now Russ should add his translation correcting the original English to THEIR knees because having someone on ONE’S knees means sitting them on your lap.

Да!