Lets not forget the 'certainly': 
if ( /see the \d brown foxes\. they are \w+ fast\./ ) {
  # do something
}

[download]
or with capturing (like ikegami pointed out) 
my ($count, $word);
if (($count, $word) = /see the (\d) brown foxes\. they are (\w+) fast\
+./) {
  print("There are $count foxes. Let's go hunting!$/");
}

[download]

In reply to Re^2: searching a string with variable data by chb
in thread searching a string with variable data by Anonymous Monk

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