#!/usr/bin/perl use warnings; use strict; my $a = {}; $a->{b} = 'b'; my $b = 'b'; my $any_string = q|a"b'c|; if ($any_string =~ /['"]b['"]/) { print "ok\n"; } if ($any_string =~ /['"]$b['"]/) { print "ok\n"; } if ($any_string =~ /["]$a->{b}["]/) { print "not ok\n"; } if ($any_string =~ /[']$a->{b}[']/) { print "not ok either\n"; }