XL: How to Return the Nth Word from a String

ID: Q152568

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

This article contains a sample Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications function that extracts a particular word from a sentence.

MORE INFORMATION

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   http://www.microsoft.com/support/supportnet/refguide/

To Create the Custom Function

Type the following in a new Visual Basic module: 

   Function FindNthWord(WordStrg As Variant, occur)
       ' Declare variables where WordStrg is the string whose Nth word you
       ' want to extract and occur is the number of the word (or Nth word)
       ' you want to extract from the string.
       Dim y, z As Integer
       Dim WordSearch()

       y = (Len(WordStrg) - (Len(Application.Substitute(WordStrg, " ", _
           "")))) / 1
       ReDim WordSearch(1 To (y + 1))
       z = 1
       For SearchLoop = 1 To y
           z = (InStr(z, WordStrg, " "))
           WordSearch(SearchLoop) = Left(WordStrg, z)
           WordStrg = Application.Trim(Mid(WordStrg, z + 1))
           z = 1
       Next SearchLoop
       WordSearch(y + 1) = WordStrg
       ' Assigns the result to the function.
       FindNthWord = WordSearch(occur)
   End Function

To Use the Custom Function

1. Enter the following in a worksheet: 

      A1: For a comparison of Dow Jones               B1:
      A2: Industrial Averages and the price of this   B2:
      A3: stock over the same quarter, refer to the   B3:
      A4: next section of the worksheet.              B4:
2. Type the following formula in cell B1: 

      B1: =FindNthWord(A1,2)
3. With cell B1 selected, grab the fill handle and fill the formula down 
   through cell B4.
4. The resulting worksheet looks like this: 

      A1: For a comparison of Dow Jones               B1: a
      A2: Industrial Averages and the price of this   B2: Averages
      A3: stock over the same quarter, refer to the   B3: over
      A4: next section of the worksheet.              B4: section

REFERENCES

For more information about the InStr function in Microsoft Excel 97, from the Visual Basic Editor, click the Office Assistant, type "InStr," click Search, and then click to view "InStr Function."

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If the Assistant is not able to answer your query, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 

   ARTICLE-ID: Q176476
   TITLE     : OFF: Office Assistant Not Answering Visual Basic Questions
"Visual Basic User's Guide," version 5.0, Chapter 3, "Creating a User- Defined Function"

Additional query words: 5.00 5.00a 5.00c 7.00 7.00a XL98 XL97 XL7 XL5 example 

Keywords          : kbprg kbdta kbdtacode PgmHowto KbVBA 
Version           : WINDOWS:5.0,5.0c,7.0,7.0a,97; MACINTOSH:5.0,98
Platform          : MACINTOSH WINDOWS
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: May 17, 1999