@array = qw/P H A G E P H A G E P Q K R E P H A G E P W S Q E P H A G E P R D L E P H A G E/; #### my $start = 0; my $end = 4; while ( $end <= $#array ) { my $string = join( "", @array[$start..$end]; if ( $string eq 'PHAGE' ) { print "$string found in elements $start .. $end\n"; } $start += 5; $end += 5; }