These four nouns seem to be very similar. If you are an English learner, your dictionary might even translate these the same depending on your language. Even for native English speakers’ dictionaries, they use one to describe the other. However, we should be aware that they are about different things entirely.
Worth and value are very close to each other, and cost and price are very close to each other, so let’s see the difference between the two pairs:
Worth is the connection between how much you should give and how much you must give for an item.
This Arabic textbook has no worth for a Spanish learner.
= A Spanish learner could buy this book, but it would be useless.
Worth is special because it can act as a preposition that compares something to whether you should pay for the given cost.
This computer is not worth $2000! It’s worth $300 at most.
= The computer is more expensive than it should be. You should not have to pay $2000 for something that someone should only pay $300 for.
Value is the amount of good things or useful things inside an item. If something has value, it has significance or importance.
I don’t understand how you can find value in that stupid doll. It’s ripped, smelly, and ugly.
= I wouldn’t pay more than $0.01 for that, but you treat it like gold.
Value can also act as a verb that means to find a special feeling or importance in something.
I value the hard work my mom does every day for our family every day.
= I am so thankful for my mom’s sacrifices.
Cost is the amount of labor or resources that are used to make something.
The cost to create one bottle of Coca-Cola is $0.01575.
= The company pays 2¢ in order to make one can of soda.
Cost also can be a verb meaning to require labor or resources.
This war cost the country thousands of lives.
= The war caused the country to lose many people.
Price is the money you must pay to have something.
Ma’am, you don’t need to yell at me. I don’t choose the price of a Big Mac.
= This is what a cashier would say if a customer was yelling at the cashier, saying that McDonalds burgers were too expensive.
Price can also be a verb that means to select how much a customer should pay.
Companies price their products carefully so that they can get as much money as possible, but customers still can afford them.
= Companies select the number you have to pay carefully.
In summary:
- WORTH: the balance between what you should pay and what you will pay
- VALUE: the amount of usefulness in something
- COST: the amount of effort to create something
- PRICE: the money you need to pay to buy something
