How to use preg_match with multiple words in PHP?
13
I want to search for multiple words in a string using PHP's `preg_match()` function.
Here's what I'm trying:
```php
$string = "white red green blue";
$pattern = "/red, blue/";
echo preg_match($pattern, $string);
```
This returns 0, but I expected it to find matches. How do I properly search for multiple words using regular expressions in PHP?
50 reputation
1 Answer
0
You can use multiple words in pattern 2 or more for preg_match, like this:
```php
$string = "white red green blue";
$pattern = "/(red)|(blue)/";
echo preg_match($pattern, $string);
```
This will return 1 if either "red" or "blue" is found in the string.
**Explanation:**
- The pipe symbol `|` acts as an OR operator in regex
- `(red)|(blue)` means match "red" OR "blue"
- You can add more words: `/(red)|(blue)|(green)/`
**Alternative simpler syntax:**
```php
$pattern = "/red|blue/";
```
Both patterns work the same way. The second one is cleaner when you don't need capturing groups.
answered 1 years ago