String inputStr = "abbabcd"; String patternStr = "(a(?:b*))+(c*)"; // (?:b*) is a non-capturing group // Compile and use regular expression Pattern pattern = Pattern.compile(patternStr); Matcher matcher = pattern.matcher(inputStr); boolean matchFound = matcher.find(); if (matchFound) { // Get all groups for this match for (int i=0; i<=matcher.groupCount(); i++) { String groupStr = matcher.group(i); } // group 0: abbabc // group 1: ab // group 2: c }