Regex to extract first 3 words from a string

Question

I am trying to replace all the words except the first 3 words from the String (using textpad).

Ex value: This is the string for testing.

Answer 1

EDIT: Added the start-of-line anchor to each regex, and added TextPad specific flags.

If you want to eliminate the first three words, and capture the rest,

^(?:\w+\s+){3}([^\n\r]+)$

?: changes the first three words to a non-capturing group, and captures everything after it.

Is this what you're looking for? I'm not totally clear on your question, or your goal.

As suggested, here's the opposite. Capture the first three words only, and discard the rest:

^(\w+\s+){3}(?:[^\n\r]+)$

Just move the ?: from the first to the second grouping.

As far as replacing that captured group, what do you want it replaced with? To replace each word individually, you'd have to capture each word individually:

^(\w+)\s+(\w+)\s+(\w+)\s+(?:[^\n\r]+)$

And then, for instance, you could replace each with its first letter capitalized:

Replace with: \u$1 \u$2 \u$3

Result is This Is The

In TextPad, lowercase \u in the replacement means change only the next letter. Uppercase \U changes everything after it (until the next capitalization flag).

Try it:

http://fiddle.re/f3hgv

(press on [Java] or whatever language is most relevant. Note that \u is not supported by RegexPlanet.)