"^" matches the start of the *string*. Sounds like you want to match the start of the *line*. Use the /m modifier to make "^" match the start of the line. Your question had nothing to do with single quotes.

perlre

In reply to Re^2: Not matching a single quote (apostrophe!) by ikegami
in thread Not matching a single quote (apostrophe!) by puddleglum

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