ワードアップ英会話 WORD UP ENGLISH CLASS | 日記 | Natural expressions: "worth it" and "not worth it"

"Worth" literally means value. When you say something is "worth it," or "worth the money," or "worth your time," you mean that the value of the thing you're buying or the experience you're having is equal to the money or time you spend on it.

So, for example:

"Pizza is expensive in Japan, but I love it, so to me it's worth the money." (This means that even though the cost is expensive, she loves pizza so much that she doesn't mind paying a high price for it).

-OR-

"What did you think of the art exhibition? Is it worth going?" (This means he wants to know if the exhibition is good enough to equal the cost, time, and effort needed to go see it).


The negative form "not worth it" is used when the cost is too high, or the value doesn't match up to the time and energy it takes to do something.

For example:

"We paid 8,000 yen to see Jack Johnson in concert. It was okay, but it really wasn't worth paying that much."


Grammar note:

Notice that when a verb follows "worth," it takes the gerund (-ing) form: worth going, worth payi ng, worth doing, etc.

-OR-

"I wanted to go to the movies yesterday, but it was so cold and rainy that it just wasn't worth it."