#!/usr/bin/perl my @current_sentence = qw(so we can do it again yeah yeah); print "current_sentence element: $_\n" for (@current_sentence); $string = "@current_sentence"; print "String Before: $string\n"; if( $string =~ /.*\bso\b.*/ ) { print "String After: $string\n"; } #### current_sentence element: so current_sentence element: we current_sentence element: can current_sentence element: do current_sentence element: it current_sentence element: again current_sentence element: yeah current_sentence element: yeah String Before: so we can do it again yeah yeah String After: so we can do it again yeah yeah