How Do I Fix This String Issue in Python?

Question

I am trying to add text with vowels in certain words (that are not consecutive vowels like ie or ei), for example:

Word: 'weird'

Text to add before vowel: 'ib'

Result: 'wibeird'

Thus the text 'ib' was added before the vowel 'e'. Notice how it didn't replace 'i' with 'ib' because when the vowel is consecutive I don't want it to add text.

However, when I do this:

Word: 'dog'

Text to add before vowel: 'ob'

Result: 'doboog'

Correct Result Should Be: 'dobog'

I've been trying to debug my program but I can't seem to figure out the logic in order to make sure it prints 'wibeird' and 'dobog' correctly.

Here is my code, substitute first_syl with 'ob' and word with 'dog' after you run it first with 'weird.

first_syl = 'ib'
word = 'weird'

vowels = "aeiouAEIOU"
diction = "bcdfghjklmnpqrstvwxyz"
empty_str = ""
word_str = ""
ch_str = ""
first_vowel_count = True

for ch in word:
    if ch in diction:
        word_str += ch
    if ch in vowels and first_vowel_count == True:
        empty_str += word_str + first_syl + ch
        word_str = ""
        first_vowel_count = False
    if ch in vowels and first_vowel_count == False:
        ch_str = ch
    if word[-1] not in vowels:
        final_str = empty_str + ch_str + word_str 

print (final_str)

I am using Python 3.2.3. Also I don't want to use any imported modules, trying to do this to understand the basics of strings and loops in python.

Note that you are not replacing the vowel but inserting a string in front of a vowel. If we would replace it, 'dog' would become 'dobg' after replacing 'o' by 'ob'. — Simeon Visser
– Simeon Visser, Commented Sep 23, 2012 at 21:35
In your first example, it doesn't look like you replaced the "e" at all- there's still an e in "wibeird" — David Robinson
– David Robinson, Commented Sep 23, 2012 at 21:36
Sorry I didn't mean to 'replace' I actually meant to add the text before the vowel, I apologize. I fixed that in the description now. — Goose
– Goose, Commented Sep 23, 2012 at 22:14

georg · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-23 21:31:59Z

2

Have you considered regular expressions?

import re

print (re.sub(r'(?<![aeiou])[aeiou]', r'ib\g<0>', 'weird')) #wibeird
print (re.sub(r'(?<![aeiou])[aeiou]', r'ob\g<0>', 'dog')) #dobog

answered Sep 23, 2012 at 21:31

georg

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1 Comment

Goose Over a year ago

Sorry I didn't mention this earlier, I'd rather not use imported modules and regex, trying to do this to understand the basics of strings and loops in python..thanks.

jsvk · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-23 23:48:08Z

1

Never use regex when you don't have to. There's a famous quote that goes

Some people, when confronted with a problem, think “I know, I'll use regular expressions.” Now they have two problems.

This can easily be solved with basic if-then statements. Here's a commented version explaining the logic being used:

first_syl = 'ib' # the characters to be added
word = 'dOg'     # the input word

vowels = "aeiou" # instead of a long list of possibilities, we'll use the 
                 # <string>.lower() func. It returns the lowercase equivalent of a 
                 # string object.
first_vowel_count = True # This will tell us if the iterator is at the first vowel
final_str = ""           # The output.

for ch in word:
    if ch.lower() not in vowels:     # If we're at a consonant, 
        first_vowel_count = True     # the next vowel to appear must be the first in 
                                     # the series.

    elif first_vowel_count:          # So the previous "if" statement was false. We're 
                                     # at a vowel. This is also the first vowel in the 
                                     # series. This means that before appending the vowel 
                                     # to output, 

        final_str += first_syl       # we need to first append the vowel-
                                     # predecessor string, or 'ib' in this case.
        first_vowel_count = False    # Additionally, any vowels following this one cannot 
                                     # be the first in the series.

    final_str += ch                  # Finally, we'll append the input character to the 
                                     # output.
print(final_str)                     # "dibOg"

answered Sep 23, 2012 at 23:48

jsvk

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2 Comments

Goose Over a year ago

I like that quote, and wow, you must be a genius, I obviously overcomplicated things, learning this is difficult for me, but fascinating. Is there a way to message you on this site, I may have a few more questions because what I plan to do next is take every vowel after the first and add different sets of text before it (so second_syl, third_syl, etc.)?

jsvk Over a year ago

@Ratman2050 There isn't a way to send private messages; this comment system is as private as it gets. If you have more questions, feel free to make more posts for them, I'm sure you'll get equally helpful feedback

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