Worth – you’re going to love this adjective. It’s surprisingly useful and you can use it to make new words like trustworthy and untrustworthy.
It means ‘having value’ and you just need to know how we use it. We put it in front of nouns and gerunds (-ing forms) and numbers, so we say things like ‘It’s worth $10.’
Learn this word. It’s worth it!

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Worth and Trustworthy video script

So what do you think?
It’s very interesting.
We bought it at a flea market.
It cost a hundred dollars.
Is it antique?
It’s about a hundred years old.
Wow!
And how much is it worth?
Maybe five, maybe ten…
Ten thousnad dollars?
No, ten dollars. It’s not worth very much.
Oh!

Worth. It’s a word worth learning. Let’s look at what it means.

Have you sold your car yet.
No. Jay took it to a dealer.
They offered me $8,000, but it’s worth a lot more than that.
Jay thinks it’s worth $12,000.
I’m going to sell it privately.
Well good luck with that.

We use ‘worth’ to describe the value of something in terms of money.

Burglars broke into a Center City store last night and stole designer jewelry worth over a hundred thousand dollars.

Have you got it ready yet? Come on! You got it? Atta boy! Oh this paper here’s worth a million dollars.
A million dollars? Well I mean, after all I did it. Give me something. I’ve got to have something for it.
Oh sure, sure. I intended to. Here. Here. Here’s a nickle.
Thank you.
Atta boy.
Oooo, a nickle.

But we don’t just measure worth in terms of money. We can measure value in other ways too.

Z. I. P.
Zips.
That’s erm… fourteen points.
No, the zed is on a triple letter score. It’s worth thirty.
Thirty points?
Yeah.

Mostly we use ‘worth’ when we’re talking about the practical value of something, so how useful or enjoyable it is.

We’re cleaning out the office today. It’s a lot of work.
It’ll be worth it. Come on Jay.

How much is it?
A pound, but it’s totally worth it. Look at the view.
OK, I’ll get a pound.

Hi Kathy. How are you?
Fine.
You know we’re both flying to Frankfurt next month?
Yes.
Can we fly business class?
Absolutely not. The tickets would cost five thousand dollars.
It would be worth it for such a long flight.
Business class is really comfortable.
Forget it!
Ah well. It was worth a try.

So if something is worth it, it’s worth spending money, time or effort on. We can also say it’s worthwhile.

It takes a lot of practice to learn the piano but I love it. It’s so worthwhile.

Now some things require too much money, too much time or too much effort. They’re not worth it – not worthwhile.

We could try to sell it on Ebay.
It’s not worth the bother.
Let’s take it to the charity shop.

It’s grammar time. ‘Worth’ is an adjective and it’s followed by a noun or a noun phrase. If you want to use a verb, you’ll need to use a gerund – a noun form of the verb. Let’s look at some examples.

I’m just buying our flights.
Oh yeah?
Is it worth getting travel insurance?
How much is it?
Fifty dollars.
It’s not worth it.

Oh no Jay. There’s a long queue. Look at all these people.
Yeah, but it’s worth waiting. It’s a Star Wars movie.

Jay doesn’t need this anymore. It’s not worth keeping.

Did you spot the gerunds. Here they are again.

I’m just buying our flights. Oh yeah? Is it worth getting travel insurance?
Look at all these people. Yeah, but it’s worth waiting. It’s a Star Wars movie.
Jay doesn’t need this anymore. It’s not worth keeping.

And now let’s finish with another bonus word. You can combine the word ‘worth’ with the word ‘trust’ to make another adjective. If someone is trustworthy they’re reliable and you can depend on them because they do what they say. When companies look for employees, they want people who are trustworthy.

I need to learn to trust you more Vicki. How can I do that?
Oh, we could play the trust game.
The what?
The trust game. Turn around.
OK.
That’s right. And then you fall back.
And you’ll catch me.
Yeah!
OK. You didn’t catch me.
I’m just not very trustworthy.

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