I can’t express how useful this phrase is! It’s definitely a little chunk of English vocabulary that you should write down in your notebook and highlight and underline!
Then, the next time you are having a conversation in English, slip in this expression and impress them with your fantastic use of English 🙂 Find out how to use it correctly below.
What does it mean?
It was worth it describes your thoughts on whether a difficult experience had enough of a positive result to stop you regretting it. You are basically saying: That was really difficult but the end result was great so I don’t mind all the hard work.
How can I use it in a sentence?
Perhaps you have spent a whole day climbing a mountain. You are hungry, thirsty and tired. Your feet are covered in blisters and you ache from head to toe. BUT THEN….You reach the top of the mountain and the view is absolutely breath-taking (see the photo at the top of this post). You know all the hard work was worth the effort – In other words ‘It was worth it’!
“The view from the top was incredible! It was definitely worth the blisters!“
Or perhaps you have spent a lot of time at work recently, working overtime and missing your lunch breaks. It’s been really tough and you miss your family but then your boss gives you a brilliant promotion with a huge pay rise so you decide it was worth it!
“After an exhausting month, I got a promotion so it was worth it in the end!“
A negative example
You can also change it to a negative meaning using wasn’t.
“We travelled all the way to London on a boiling hot day to surprise my brother but he wasn’t at home so it wasn’t worth it!“
English writing challenge
Can you think of any difficult experiences in your life that were worth the effort? Write your sentence in the comments below and I’ll check it for you 🙂
10 Responses
After studying three months on my paper it was worth it to see published!
That’s a brilliant way to use this expression Hatice, lovely grammar! If it is a real example from your life, then congratulations too 😉
I had an apartment renovation for three months but the result was incredible.
It was worth it.
Fantastic example! I can see you’ve understood the meaning exactly from the great context you’ve used. Well done 🙂
Hi Nicki!
After several months I review the lessons again and I’ve got a new example.
I had to learn English very hard one year but now I like the result. It was worth it.
That’s a brilliant example! And of course I’m very happy to hear that it was worth it 🤩
Hi Nicki,
When I was young, I worked hard at school. And now I work as a manager. It was worth it!
Yes Eric! Great example!!
Hello Nicki, I really like those expressions , some of them I sometimes use them with my students.
One day, I gave a written exam to my students , that was last year, the rooms at the academic are dark so they need the lights on , so in the middle of the exam the light went off and it was impossible the test goes on, so I told the students to wait at about 15 minutes, but less than that the light returned and the students went on with their examination, it was worthy to wait.
Hi Julio, It’s very subtle but it’s a slightly different context because there wasn’t a lot of effort involved. So you could say ‘it was worth waiting’ (worth + ing)
OR you could change your example: ‘The exam was really difficult and the students had to wait a long time in the dark but they all got great results so it was worth it!’
I hope that makes sense. Thanks so much for your comment 😊