It will be worth while to come to the meeting

The subject is the gerund.

We can read:
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: worth sth / doing sth
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: be worth (doing) something
Murphy (intermediate): It’s worth + ing.

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: It will be worth your while to come to the meeting
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: be worth somebody's while (to do/doing something)
Murphy: -

The question is whether we can say: “It will be worth while to come to the meeting”?

My textbook says it is possible, but I am skeptical.

Michael

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Grablevskij

The subject is the gerund.

We can read:
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: worth sth / doing sth
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: be worth (doing) something
Murphy (intermediate): It’s worth + ing.

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: It will be worth your while to come to the meeting
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: be worth somebody's while (to do/doing something)
Murphy: -

The question is whether we can say: “It will be worth while to come to the meeting”?

My textbook says it is possible, but I am skeptical.

Michael

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It is, though many speakers would prefer the gerund, and feel that, in that case, the "while" is redundant: 'It is worth coming to the meeting' (after all if it's "worth your while to come to the meeting" it is "worth coming", and the "worth your while" only adds something if there's contrastive stress: 'It's worth your while to go to the meeting, but there's no point in my going').

In use as an attributive adjective the words are often joined: 'this is a worthwhile enterprise'.

b