regex101: Python Substitution Workspace

Pro

\ba Unicode word boundary

Non-Capturing Group(?:apples|pears|bananas)

1st Alternativeapples

applesthe literal text apples (case insensitive)

2nd Alternativepears

pearsthe literal text pears (case insensitive)

3rd Alternativebananas

bananasthe literal text bananas (case insensitive)

Non-Capturing Group(?:(?:\s+(?:or|and)\s+|\s*,\s*)+(?:apples|pears|bananas))*

*repeats the group contents below any number of times:

Non-Capturing Group(?:\s+(?:or|and)\s+|\s*,\s*)+

+repeats the group contents below at least once:

1st Alternative\s+(?:or|and)\s+

\s+a Unicode whitespace character, repeated at least once

Non-Capturing Group(?:or|and)

1st Alternativeor

orthe literal text or (case insensitive)

2nd Alternativeand

andthe literal text and (case insensitive)

\s+a Unicode whitespace character, repeated at least once

2nd Alternative\s*,\s*

\s*a Unicode whitespace character, repeated any number of times

,the literal , (44₁₀ / 54₈ / 2C₁₆)

\s*a Unicode whitespace character, repeated any number of times

Non-Capturing Group(?:apples|pears|bananas)

1st Alternativeapples

applesthe literal text apples (case insensitive)

2nd Alternativepears

pearsthe literal text pears (case insensitive)

3rd Alternativebananas

bananasthe literal text bananas (case insensitive)

Global pattern flags

g modifier: global. Finds all matches instead of stopping after the first

m modifier: multiline. Causes ^ and $ to match the start and end of each line, not only the start and end of the string

i modifier: insensitive. Matches without distinguishing uppercase and lowercase letters

25 tokens

Regular Expression

\b(?:apples|pears|bananas)(?:(?:\s+(?:or|and)\s+|\s*,\s*)+(?:apples|pears|bananas))*

apples, pears, bananas are fruit

pears, apples, and bananas are in the fruit basket

you can use bananas, pears, and apples in a fruit salad

he also likes pears, bananas, and apples for a snack

she likes cheese for a snack but also apples or pears

Substitution

[\g<0>]

apples, pears, bananas are fruit

pears, apples, and bananas are in the fruit basket

you can use bananas, pears, and apples in a fruit salad

he also likes pears, bananas, and apples for a snack

she likes cheese for a snack but also apples or pears