All I want to do is capture the keyword (array, break, echo, etc) and color it. --------------- $txt = "this is an array('test')"; $pattern = "/(array|break|echo|continue)([\(.|\s.|\;.])/"; echo preg_replace($pattern, '<font color="red">$0</font>', $txt); ---------------- This captures "array(" though and I just want "array". Thanks for pointing out my stupidity, Nate Sanden nate@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.savingadvice.com