The French phrase "Ça en vaut la peine"

Are you ready to learn all the things you ever wanted to know about the basic sentence "Ça en vaut la peine"? Including a complete definition of what it is and how you can use it in a conversation with an audio example. And also the useful stuff we sprinkled like dialogue example, synonyms, slow pronunciation audio and more!

French to English translation

Translation : It's worth it
Register : Neutral - Basic

How to pronounce it

Slow

Normal

IPA : / sa ɑ̃ vo la pɛn /

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What does it mean exactly?

Definition

The literal meaning is:

Ça → This (is)
En vaut → Worth
La peine → The trouble

This expression is built around "vaut" from the verb "valoir" which has a meaning of "value". So when something "Vaut la peine" (Worth the trouble) it means it has enough value to justify spending some time and energy on it.

If it's not interesting enough a.k.a. it has not enough "value" then it's not worth it: "Ça n'en vaut pas la peine."

How to use it

Someone asks you if what you are reading is interesting and the book disappointed you: "Non, ça n'en vaut pas la peine." (No, it's not worth it/the trouble.) But if you liked it and want to recommend it, you can say: "Oui, ça en vaut la peine."

N.B. The "Oui" and "Non" before the expression are optional, but we tend to use them to make our sentences more clear.

Synonyms / Related

Ça en vaut la peine. ("It's worth the trouble")
Ça vaut le coup. ("It's worth the shot")
Ça vaut le détour. ("It's worth the detour")

Antonyms

Ça n'en vaut pas la peine. ("It's not worth the trouble")
Ça ne vaut pas le coup. ("It's not worth the shot")
Ça ne vaut pas le détour. ("It's not worth the detour")

Example in a dialogue with French audio

Dialogue

Quelles sont vos bonnes résolutions ?

What are your new year's resolutions?

Je vais courir tous les jours !

I will run everyday!

Ça en vaut la peine !

It's worth it!