c:\@Work\Perl\monks>perl -wMstrict -le "$_ = 'Three, Four, One, Two'; ;; /([A-Z][a-z][.][\b])/; print qq{'$1' '$2' '$3' '$4'}; ;; /([A-Z] [a-z]+ (?: , | \b))/x; print qq{'$1' '$2' '$3' '$4'}; " Use of uninitialized value $1 in concatenation (.) or string at -e line 1. Use of uninitialized value $2 in concatenation (.) or string at -e line 1. Use of uninitialized value $3 in concatenation (.) or string at -e line 1. Use of uninitialized value $4 in concatenation (.) or string at -e line 1. '' '' '' '' Use of uninitialized value $2 in concatenation (.) or string at -e line 1. Use of uninitialized value $3 in concatenation (.) or string at -e line 1. Use of uninitialized value $4 in concatenation (.) or string at -e line 1. 'Three,' '' '' ''