my @data = (-123.004,-.008,0,-0,.0987,1.1,1.0,1.0001,12345,'d','test'); foreach my $value (@data){ if($value =~ /(\d.*)/) { print "$1 is true\n"; } else{ print "false\n"; } } #### my @data = (-123.004,-.008,0,-0,.0987,1.1,1.0,1.0001,12345,'d','test','d5','5d', '0d5', 'd0d');