$ perl -le " qr{\d****} " Nested quantifiers in regex; marked by <-- HERE in m/\d** <-- HERE **/ at -e line 1. $ perl -le " qr{(?#an error follows)****} " Quantifier follows nothing in regex; marked by <-- HERE in m/(?#an error follows)* <-- HERE ***/ at -e line 1. $ perl -le " qr{?} " Quantifier follows nothing in regex; marked by <-- HERE in m/? <-- HERE / at -e line 1.