I am attempting to create a pig latin converter which splits the string at its first vowel, and switches the first substring with the second (e.g. dog -> ogd).

The following regex code is working for single vowel strings, however when attempting to translate a word with multiple vowels, it is splitting the string at the last vowel:

string.replace(/(\w+)([aeiou]\w+)/i, '$2$1')

Running this code on the word "meaning" results in "ingmean" (splitting on the 'i'), whereas I am expecting to return "eaningm" (splitting on the 'e')

Thanks!

I am attempting to create a pig latin converter which splits the string at its first vowel, and switches the first substring with the second (e.g. dog -> ogd).

The following regex code is working for single vowel strings, however when attempting to translate a word with multiple vowels, it is splitting the string at the last vowel:

string.replace(/(\w+)([aeiou]\w+)/i, '$2$1')

Running this code on the word "meaning" results in "ingmean" (splitting on the 'i'), whereas I am expecting to return "eaningm" (splitting on the 'e')

Thanks!

• javascript
• regex
• string
• split

• You might want to be specific about the exact output you are trying to get – musefan Commented Jan 25, 2017 at 16:15
• @musefan I am hoping to return "eaningm" – jgrune Commented Jan 25, 2017 at 16:17

2 Answers 2

You need to add the lazy (?) operator:

string.replace(/(\w+?)([aeiou]\w+)/i, '$2$1')

This should do the trick

/([^aeiou]+)([aeiou])([a-zA-Z]+)/

And use

$2$3$1