my $line = "Iff bla blabla bla..."; if ($line =~ /^If?/) #if ($line =~ /^If{1}/) { print "catch you !!\n"; } else{print "didn't catch you !!\n";} #### my $line = "If bla blabla bla..."; if ($line =~ /^If?/) #if ($line =~ /^If{1}/) { print "catch you !!\n"; } else{print "didn't catch you !!\n";}