I kind of understand the phrase やった甲斐があった from a post by Sjiveru, but how do
you express the notion that doing something now or in the future is worth it?
For example, how would you say "The wait is long, but it is worth it because
the udon is so delicious"? I made the sentence
「待つのはながいですが、うどんはすごくおいしいから、甲斐があります」, but I am not sure if this makes any sense.
Should I say instead at the end of the sentence「待つのは甲斐があります」, or should I
change the entire sentence instead?
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2023-03-26T13:02:27.087
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question
grammar translation
How do you say "...is worth the wait" in Japanese?
If you want to use the phrase 甲斐がある, the correct way of combining it with 待つ
is 待った甲斐があった, just like やった甲斐があった, which is the verb やる.

However, your sentence `待つのはながいですが、うどんはすごくおいしいから、甲斐があります` is also correct, not
modifying 甲斐 with a verb, since what 甲斐 you're talking about is already clear
from context.

`待つのは甲斐があります` would be a general statement, like `the action of waiting would
be worthwhile`, something you could say before the waiting starts to tell
people it will be worth it. If it's something you say afterwards, then it's
待った甲斐があった（ありました） where you use the past tense.

In addition, I also suggest looking up the phrase 割に合う, which also means "(a
hard work) paying off". Your waiting paid off, so

> 待つ時間は長いんだけど、うどんがめっちゃ美味しくて、本当に **割にあった** んだ！
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2023-03-27T07:05:07.200
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The formula is [verb]甲斐がある or [verb]甲斐があった and the verb's tense should match
that of ある/あった, as long as you are trying to translate simple cases of English
tenses, I think. のは is unnecessary.

  * やった甲斐があった (was worth doing / one-time thing)
  * やる甲斐がある (is worth doing, will be worth doing)
  * 待った甲斐があった (was worth the wait / one-time thing)
  * 待つ甲斐がある (is worth the wait, will be worth the wait)

The other variations are a bit tricky to explain. I think it involves how
grammatical aspects between two verbs in a sentence work in general, and they
are... complicated. I don't think I can cover everything about aspects here.
(I'm sure good textbooks explain them better than I could.) Here are typical
interpretations under the given context I can think of right know.

  * 待った甲斐がある - the waiting is completed, and the payoff is not. I don't know how to phrase it succinctly in English using "worth -ing".
  * 待つ甲斐があった - both the waiting and the payoff happened repeatedly.
  * 待っている甲斐がある - the waiting is being done (not completed).
  * 待っている甲斐があった - the waiting is repeatedly done, and the payoff is a one-time thing. (This doesn't make much sense in the case of "waiting". Something like 練習している would make more sense.)
  * 待っていた甲斐があった - similar to 待った甲斐があった, but emphasis on the continuity (or the length) of the waiting
  * 待っていた甲斐がある - similar to 待った甲斐がある, but emphasis on the continuity (or the length) of the waiting
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2023-03-27T12:48:52.073
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answer