$re = '/(\b(DIN)|(DIN EN)|(DIN EN ISO)|(DIN ISO)|(DIN-EN)|(DIN-EN-ISO)|(DIN-ISO)|(EN)|(IEC)|(ISO)|(NEN)|(NEN‑EN)|(NEN‑EN‑IEC)\b)(\s)(\d)/m';
$str = 'You can find the specifications in DIN 12345, DIN EN 12345, DIN EN ISO 12345, DIN ISO 12345, DIN-EN 12345, DIN-EN-ISO 12345, DIN-ISO 12345, EN 12345, IEC 12345, ISO 12345, NEN 12345, NEN‑EN 12345, NEN‑EN‑IEC 12345.';
$subst = "$1‡$3";
$result = preg_replace($re, $subst, $str);
echo "The result of the substitution is ".$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 PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php