Match string "words" with an array

Question

I am using this method to match a string with an array. However, I want to match entire words, instead of each character in a string.

string = "Take a pill when you are ill"
array = ['bill', 'chill', 'pill']
if any(x in string for x in array):
    string = string.replace('ill', 'sick')    
print(string)

I want this block of code to return:

Take a pill when you are sick

But it returns:

Take a psick when you are sick

How do I do this?

A string is an array of characters, so you can use `string.split(" ")` to give you an array, and use a for loop to check if the contents of `array` are in `string` — Gautam Chettiar, Oct 03 '22 at 10:55
`string.replace(' ill', ' sick')` Change to this it will work. — Rahul K P, Oct 03 '22 at 10:59

Anonymous12358 · Accepted Answer · 2022-10-03T13:26:17.973

1

You can use regex to only replace when a word appears on its own. \b matches word boundaries: it doesn't consume any characters but will only match at the boundary between word characters ([A-Za-z0-9_]) and non-word characters.

import re

string = "Take a pill when you are ill"
array = ['bill', 'chill', 'pill']
if any(x in string for x in array):
    string = re.sub(r'\bill\b', 'sick', string)

print(string)

edited Oct 03 '22 at 13:26

answered Oct 03 '22 at 12:11

Anonymous12358

436
1
10

This is not working. It outputs the input exactly as it is. – Zainab Iftikhar Oct 03 '22 at 13:23
1

My mistake: I forgot to use a raw string. I've now fixed it. – Anonymous12358 Oct 03 '22 at 13:27

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 03 '22 at 10:51

0

Change this line to also match empty spaces:

if any(x in string for x in array):
    string = string.replace(' ill ', ' sick ')

answered Oct 03 '22 at 10:51

Maciej M

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17

RISHABH GUPTA · Answer 3 · 2022-10-03T11:06:26.913

0

You can change the line

`if any(x in string for x in array):
string = string.replace('ill', 'sick')`

To

`if any(x in string for x in array):
string = string.replace(' ill', 'sick')`

Now it will only replace sick with ill

edited Oct 03 '22 at 11:06

answered Oct 03 '22 at 11:05

RISHABH GUPTA

7
4

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You could also split the string using `.split()` function then check the array and then replace the word in the array and join to make the sentence – RISHABH GUPTA Oct 03 '22 at 11:18
1

Also You can Split the string then check with array and then join the array using `" ".join(array_name)` . – RISHABH GUPTA Oct 03 '22 at 11:21
Yes, this seems like the solution that I need. Can you please elaborate the string splitting method? – Zainab Iftikhar Oct 03 '22 at 11:42

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 03 '22 at 11:11

0

this code will check any 'ill' in the string and change it with 'sick'. What you can do is

string = string.replace('ill', 'sick')

replace this with string = string.replace(' ill', ' sick') this.

answered Oct 03 '22 at 11:11

Moksh Bansal

1
2

Match string "words" with an array

4 Answers4