Do you know the difference between ‘cost’ and ‘worth’? What about ‘price’ and ‘value’? In this English class, you’ll learn what these words each mean, and we’ll go through sentences to show the way they are used in context. After watching, you’ll always know which one to choose. You’ll also learn some popular idiomatic sayings containing these words. And to double-check your understanding after watching, do try the quiz over at EngVid – it will COST you a bit of time, but it will be WORTH it! https://www.engvid.com/confusing-english-words-cost-price-worth-value/
More of Gill's lessons about confusing English words:
NO, NOW, KNOW https://youtu.be/JpmUjDlMNpA
LESS, FEWER, FEW, LITTLE… https://youtu.be/6GT51x1VtAs
In this lesson:
0:00 Vocabulary: cost, price, worth, value
0:55 cost & price
2:36 worth & value
3:45 Examples
6:51 "cost me an arm and a leg"
7:49 "A picture is worth a thousand words."
8:39 Review
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello. I'm Gill at engVid, and today we have a lesson on a set of words people have asked
me to explain the difference. So, we have "cost" and "price" on the left here, and we
have the words "worth" and "value" on the right. Sometimes they can be used in a similar
way to do with money in particular, but also "worth" and "value" can often be a little
bit more abstract in meaning. So, I think it's helpful to understand the kind of context
where you can use each one and the different vocabulary that would go with it in a sentence.
So, let's have a look. So, the cost of something is what you pay for it in money, pounds, dollars,
or euros, or whatever your currency is, what you pay in money, the price of it. Okay? So,
you can talk about the cost of a new suit. You could say, "Oh, a new suit these days,
it costs so much money." So, the cost in money, what you pay. Okay? And then if you're in a shop
and looking at the clothes and at the prices, you often have a price tag on, you know, a piece of
card hanging from the garment with the price on it. So, the cost of a new suit. So, if you're
with a friend in a shop and you're looking at the suits, you might say, "Oh, what's the cost of
this one?" And your friend might say, "Oh, here's the price tag. It says on the price tag, this suit
costs 200 pounds." And then you decide, is that a bit too much or can you afford it? If it's for
an interview for a job and you need a new suit, you might think it's worth the investment. So,
okay, it's all about buying things, usually materialistic objects in shops, what you pay.
Okay? So, then if we look at the other two words, "worth" and "value", often, as I said,
they can be more abstract. So, you can talk about people and friends and friendship, for example.
"My best friend is worth the world to me." In fact, you can't put a price... You could say
you can't put a price on friendship, so that's using the word from over here, but you can't put
a price on friendship. It's more abstract. It goes beyond money. Okay? "My best friend is worth
the world to me." And you might talk about the value of friendship, where you can't really
calculate the value in money terms. Okay? So, there is a kind of difference between the two.
Although sometimes what is something worth can be to do with money, an amount of money.
We'll see in a minute some examples of that. So, if you imagine that I bought a vase in an
antique shop. I just like the look of it. I thought, "Oh, that's a nice vase, and it's only
£5. I think I'll buy that." So, I bought a vase in an antique shop. It cost me... So, the cost
in money, it cost me £5. But I later discovered that it was worth... So, that comes from here,
which is often more abstract, but it was worth at least £50. So, this shows that sometimes you
can use the word "worth" for money, depending on how you're using it. It cost me £5, but it was
actually worth in... You know, on the antique market, what people are prepared to pay for
something is what it's worth. So, it was worth at least £50, and the shop who was selling it didn't
realise its true value. So, again, we've got "worth" and "value", but it's relating this time
to money in the sense of maybe a rather special vase, which is an antique. And that's, you know,
maybe you're using the words "worth" and "value" because it's to do with... It's something special,
and so it has a value on the antique market. Okay? What people are prepared to pay.
So, that can be used. "Worth" and "value" can be used with money in this particular way. Okay?
And then here as well, if you're looking at cars, and you're with your friend,
and your friend is looking at a car with £10,000, usually on the windscreen,
the price of the car, but I might say to my friend […]