A regular expression to match a word or its prefix can be constructed by using the word boundary assertion (\b) and an optional quantifier for the suffix. Here’s the general idea:
Pattern Structure
For a given word word, the regular expression can be:
Explanation:
\b: Asserts a word boundary to ensure the match starts or ends at a word.word: Matches the exact word or prefix.[a-z]*: Matches zero or more additional characters (suffix) after the prefix.\b: Ensures the match ends at a word boundary.
Matching Only a Prefix or Complete Word
If you want to match a prefix specifically (like wor of word), you can allow the partial match using:
If the prefix length can vary, you can create alternatives or use a more complex pattern depending on the language or requirements.
Examples of Match Use
- Input text: “wordly, words, word”
- Regular expression:
\bword[a-z]*\b - Matches: “wordly”, “words”, “word”