Worth it with 〜甲斐がある
The noun 甲斐 means “worth” or “effect”. 甲斐がある may be appended to a noun to say something has value, or to a verb to say it is or was worth doing. There is a nuance that something difficult or unpleasant lead to a positive outcome.
When attached to a noun, の is used, such as 「nounの甲斐がある」.
The preceding verb may be in its dictionary form (待つ), completed form (待った), or the verb stem (待ち).
ある may be replaced to ない to say something was not worth it.
Based on the word before it, 甲斐 may be read as がい. It is also common to see it written in hiragana rather than kanji.
The partical が is sometimes omitted.
