$input = $YourRawArray[X]; preg_match_all('¤\{([^\}]+)\}¤U',$input,$multiword,PREG_SET_ORDER); $input = preg_replace('¤\{.+\}¤',"",$input); $input = preg_replace('|\s\s+|',' ',$input); $input = explode(" ",strtolower($input)); print_r($multiword); print_r($input);