how to say “worthwhile” in Hebrew
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Hebrew has a few ways of saying worthwhile, depending on what you mean.
To use worthwhile in a general sense, as one would say in English, it’s worth it, the word is כְּדַאי (listen and repeat). It’s not an adjective, but a modal verb, much like אֶפְשָׁר (listen and repeat) – it’s possible.
For example:
It’s worth it to travel out of the city from time to time.
listen
This is by far the most common way of saying worthwhile in Hebrew.
But to use worthwhile to describe something specific, we use a different word. It’s got the same spelling as כְּדַאי (listen and repeat) in terms of consonants, but the vowels are different: כְּדָאִי (listen and repeat).
It’ll make more sense in context:
Learning to swim is a worthwhile effort.
listen
Another word that means worthwhile in both the general sense and when describing something in particular, is מִשְׁתַּלֵּם (listen and repeat). Its root is שׁ.ל.מ (sh.l.m), the same as that of peace and payment. משתלם means, literally, something that pays off.
For example:
It’s worth it to buy tickets early.
listen
and
I finally saw a new car at a worthwhile price.
listen
משתלם is an adjective deriving from the reflexive-intensive הִתְפַּעֵל verb form.
