c:\>perl -ne "print qq/$1 $2 $3\n/ if (/Turn.*?speaker=(\S+)\s+startTime=(+\S+)\ s+endTime=(\S+)/)" C1_A1_1a.trs > toto.xxx Quantifier follows nothing in regex; marked by <-- HERE in m/Turn.*?speaker=(\S+ )\s+startTime=(+ <-- HERE \S+)\s+endTime=(\S+)/ at -e line 1.