They forced him down (on/onto) his knees.

[99bottles]

They forced him down on/onto his knees.

I have tried hard to figure out the difference between on and onto. If I have got it right, the correct word in such a sentence is onto, since it describes motion. However, on google, I had to try really hard to find an example with onto, whereas there were countless examples with on.

Have I got something wrong?

 

[SoothingDave]

But you're not getting "onto" your knees, like you would if you said "get onto the table" or "he climbed up onto the roof."

Logic aside, the use is "on." Get on your knees. Get on your feet.

 

[jutfrank]

I disagree with the post above. The best preposition here is onto, since the idea is that there is movement. I imagine that the examples you found with on did not have this same sense of movement.

I think that when you say Get on your knees, the idea is something like 'Assume a position of being on your knees'. The verb get expresses a very basic meaning of changing from one state to another state (think: get married, get ready, get dark, etc.) There's no actual sense of movement there. The idea is the same for all uses of the verb get. We wouldn't say Get onto the table although we would say Jump onto the table. That's because the former is about changing location and the latter is about moving from point A to point B.

 

[5jj]

We wouldn't say Get onto the table.

I don't see why not.

 

[jutfrank]

I don't see why not.

Actually, I suppose you would if the idea were to emphasise that there be movement.

 

[emsr2d2]

Bear in mind that you can also say "They forced him to his knees".

 

[99bottles]

So, shall I conclude that both on and onto are correct in such a sentence?