import re
regex = re.compile(r"(?<=[\s\w])(?:\.{1,2}|\.{4,})(?=[\s\w])", flags=re.MULTILINE)
test_str = ("I was sent... to protect you.\n"
"I was sent.. to protect you.\n"
"I was sent.... to protect you.\n"
"I was sent ... to protect you.\n")
subst = ""
result = regex.sub(subst, test_str)
if result:
print(result)
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for Python, please visit: https://docs.python.org/3/library/re.html