$re = '/^(?<weeks>\d{1,2})w\s(?<days>0?[0-6])d\s(?<hours>(?:0?|1|2(?=[0-3]))\d)h\s(?<minutes>(?:0?|[1-5])\d)m$/i';
$str = '00w 00d 21h 00m';
preg_match($re, $str, $matches, PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE, 0);
// Print the entire match result
var_dump($matches);
Please keep in mind that these code samples are automatically generated and are not guaranteed to work. If you find any syntax errors, feel free to submit a bug report. For a full regex reference for PHP, please visit: http://php.net/manual/en/ref.pcre.php