Well worth the day! :)

[Tamara]

Hi

…, so it was well worth the call

Does here (in such phrases with well worth) worth play an adjective or a verb?

_________________
It’s impossible to learn swimming without entering the water…

[Alan]

Hi Tamara,

Worth in this sentence performs the function of an adjective as worthy of.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Colour Idioms

[Tamara]

Hi Alan

an adjective...

And in well worth the day!, as well?
(Frankly, I'd expected an answer 'a verb'...)

OK.
Could anybody give one more example for the structure
adjective [+ of] + article + noun
?
_________________
It’s impossible to learn swimming without entering the water…

[Yankee]

[FangFang]

Hi, Tamara:
I also feel confused about "worth", so let's study it together, (abstracted from Oxford Advanced E-C Dictionary,Fourth edition)

worth:adj, 1)having a certain value
e.g: Our house is worth about 60,000 pounds.
2) giving or likely to give a satisfactory or rewarding return for doing something
e.g: The book is worth reading.
worth:n(uncountable)
worth of something: !) amount of sth that a specified sum of money will buy
e.g: ten pounds ' worth of petrol
2)value or usefulness
e.g: people of worth in the community

P.S: I didn't catch you so, why did you say"expected a verb"?
How about "worthy", be worthy of sth /to do something, both have the similar meaning of doing something value, where is the difference?

Hi, Amy
" be adj of sb /sth" : It is nice of you=You are nice. I wonder if the former is more formal in written English ?

Thanks
F.F

[Yankee]

[Tamara]

[Yankee]

Hi Tamara

If I were you, I think I'd decide to look at "be worth" as one phrasal verb (consisting of a verb and an adjective). Wouldn't that help eliminate a lot of your uneasy feelings?

Amy

[Tamara]

Why the truth can be worth drilling down for?


OK...
_________________
It’s impossible to learn swimming without entering the water…

[Alan]

Hi Tamara,

I've looked at my largest Oxford dictionary (the micro edition that you can only read with a magnifying glass) and there is a reference to a quote from 1456: A certain Sir G Haye wrote: if *****, all the world wald worth to nocht = all the world would turn into/become nothing.

So your instinct is right. It started life meaning become, turn into, change status to.

Alan
_________________
English as a Foreign Language
You can read my EFL story Book Expressions

[Yankee]

.
Imagine that!

Tamara, you must be a reincarnation of someone from the time around 1456.

[Tamara]