How do I split a phrase into words using Regex in C#

Question

I am trying to split a sentence/phrase in to words using Regex.

var phrase = \"This isn\'t a test.\";
var words = Regex.Split(phrase, @\"\\W+\").ToList();


        

Answer 1

Use Split().

words = phrase.Split(' ');

Without punctuation.

words = phrase.Split(new Char [] {' ', ',', '.', ':', , ';', '!', '?', '\t'});

Answer 2

You can try if you're trying to split based on spaces only.

var words = Regex.Split(phrase, @"[^ ]+").ToList();

The other approach is to add the apostrophe by adding that to your character class.

var words = Regex.Split(phrase, @"(\W|')+").ToList();

Otherwise, is there a specific reason that you cannot use string.Split()? This would seem much more straightforward. Also, you would also be able to pass in other punctuation characters (i.e. split on . as well as spaces).

var words = phrase.Split(' ');
var words = phrase.Split(new char[] {' ', '.'});