/^ # Anchor to beginning of string ( # Capture to $1 \d+ # one or more digits ) # \s+ # One or more whitespace [^\s]+ # One or more non-whitespace \s+ # One or more whitespace [^\s]+ # One or more non-whitespace \s+ # One or more whitespace ( # Capture to $2 [a-zA-Z]+ # One or more letters ) # $/x; # Anchor to end of string