(\w){1,2} matches a non-word character either one or two times. : Match « Regular Expressions « VB.Net Tutorial

1. VB.Net Tutorial
2. Regular Expressions
3. Match

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

Module Example
   Public Sub Main()
      Dim pattern As String = "\b(\w+)(\W){1,2}"
      Dim input As String = "this is a test 123."
      For Each match As Match In Regex.Matches(input, pattern)
         Console.WriteLine(match.Value)
         Dim captures As CaptureCollection = match.Groups(2).Captures
         For ctr As Integer = 0 To captures.Count - 1
             Console.WriteLine(captures(ctr).Value)
             Console.WriteLine(Convert.ToUInt16(captures(ctr).Value.Chars(0)).ToString("X4"))
             Console.WriteLine(If(ctr < captures.Count - 1, ", ", ""))
         Next
      Next
   End Sub
End Module