my @examples=( 'KG 001 J', 'KG 003 M', 'KG 004 A', 'KG 007 X', 'KG 020 M', 'KG 045 A', 'KG 1234 J', ); for my $string (@examples) { if($string=~/KG\s(\d{3})\s([JMA])/) { my ($number,$suffix)=($1+0,$2); print "$string => "; print "NUMBER: $number "; print "SUFFIX: $suffix\n"; } }