wrap -tag around first word of string with preg_replace

Answer 1

Try with this instead

preg_replace('/(?<=\>)\b\w*\b|^\w*\b/', '$0', $string);

$0 means it will become the first thing matched in your regex, $1 will become the second etc.

You could also use back-references; \0 gets the first thing matched back from where you are, \1 gets the second thing matched back etc. More Info