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  1. The painting is appraised as worth millions.
  2. The painting is appraised as being worth millions.
  3. The painting is appraised and worth millions.
  4. The painting is appraised with a worth of millions.

I think both sentences 1 and 2 are correct, as is followed by an adjective or gerund.

As to sentence 3, is it correct? I think it is, because here worth is an adjective, it is the same as "The painting is appraised and is worth millions."

As to sentence 4, according to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, "worth" is an unconuntable noun. But I do see examples like this in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 4th Edition: "stocks having a worth of ten million dollars."

What's more, some dictionaries claim "worth" is an adjective, while others say it is a preposition.

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  • #4 seems "unusual" if not actually ungrammatical to me. #3 has a different and somewhat unlikely meaning (it implies the "appraisal" reliably and accurately sets, fixes, defines the value, but even "valuations" are rarely that definitive). #1 is just a trivial "reduction by deletion" from the far more likely version #2. Commented Apr 17, 2015 at 20:56

1 Answer 1

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"Worth" isn't the word you'll most commonly see used in this context. Instead, try "value". Though "worth" can be used as a synonym of "value", it isn't used in this way in common speech.

As for what preposition to use, "at" is the best option.

The painting was appraised at a value of millions of dollars.

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  • The original sentence is adapted from Washington Times: But district officials had the painting kept in a secure place after it was appraised as being worth several hundred thousands of dollars. from washingtontimes.com/news/2015/jan/30/…
    – James King
    Commented Apr 17, 2015 at 20:39
  • The act of appraising, by definition, looks to estimate the value of something. It's not necessary (though not wrong, either) to use the verbal phrase "as being".
    – R Mac
    Commented Apr 17, 2015 at 20:48
  • @James - I don't think it's a good idea to ask about "adapted" sentences, and then reveal the source sentence in the comment of an answer. That tidbit should have been incorporated into the question; that's why we ask for details and sources.
    – J.R.
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 8:55
  • (cont.) In this case, I think all four of your sentences strike me as a bit awkward, in part because of the present-tense is (vs. the past-tense was in the original). When a value has been placed on something, the appraisal is over: This painting is being appraised today; that painting was appraised as being worth millions.
    – J.R.
    Commented Jun 5, 2015 at 8:58

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