SUBSTITUTE and REPLACE in Excel - Interactive Code Practice

Practice - 5 Tasks

1fill in blank

easy

Complete the formula to replace all occurrences of "cat" with "dog" in cell A1.

Excel

=SUBSTITUTE(A1, [1], "dog")

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A"dog"

B"cat"

CA1

D"replace"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using the replacement text "dog" as the text to find.

Using the cell reference instead of the text to find.

The SUBSTITUTE function replaces all occurrences of the text you specify. Here, you want to replace "cat" with "dog".

2fill in blank

medium

Complete the formula to replace only the second occurrence of "apple" with "orange" in cell B2.

Excel

=SUBSTITUTE(B2, "apple", [1], 2)

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A"orange"

B"apple"

C2

D"replace"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Putting the occurrence number in the wrong place.

Using the text to find as the replacement text.

The third argument in SUBSTITUTE is the replacement text. To replace the second occurrence, specify 2 as the fourth argument.

3fill in blank

hard

Fix the error in the formula to replace the first 3 characters in cell C3 with "XYZ".

Excel

=REPLACE(C3, 1, [1], "XYZ")

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A3

B1

C"XYZ"

D0

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Using 1 instead of 3 for the number of characters.

Using 0 which means no characters replaced.

The REPLACE function replaces a number of characters starting at a position. Here, you want to replace 3 characters starting at position 1.

4fill in blank

hard

Fill both blanks to create a formula that replaces the 4 characters starting at position 2 in cell D4 with "test".

Excel

=REPLACE(D4, [1], [2], "test")

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A2

B3

C4

D1

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Swapping start position and number of characters.

Using wrong numbers that don't match the instruction.

The second argument is the start position (2), and the third argument is the number of characters to replace (4).

5fill in blank

hard

Fill all three blanks to create a formula that substitutes "red" with "blue" only in the third occurrence in cell E5, then replaces the first 2 characters of the result with "Hi".

Excel

=REPLACE(SUBSTITUTE(E5, [1], [2], [3]), 1, 2, "Hi")

Drag options to blanks, or click blank then click option'

A"red"

B"blue"

C3

D"Hi"

Attempts:

3 left

💡 Hint

Common Mistakes

Mixing up the order of SUBSTITUTE arguments.

Using wrong occurrence number.

Confusing REPLACE arguments.

The SUBSTITUTE replaces the third occurrence of "red" with "blue". Then REPLACE changes the first 2 characters to "Hi".

Practice

1. Which function would you use in Excel to replace all occurrences of the word apple with orange in a text string?

easy

A. REPLACE

B. SUBSTITUTE

C. CONCATENATE

D. LEFT

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the function purpose

   SUBSTITUTE replaces specific text by matching the exact word or phrase in the string.

2. Step 2: Compare with REPLACE

   REPLACE changes text based on position, not matching text, so it is not suitable here.

3. Final Answer:

   SUBSTITUTE -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Replace by matching text = SUBSTITUTE [OK]

Hint: Use SUBSTITUTE to replace specific words by matching text [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using REPLACE when you need to match text
• Confusing SUBSTITUTE with CONCATENATE
• Trying to use LEFT to replace text

2. Which of the following is the correct syntax to replace the first 3 characters in cell A1 with XYZ using the REPLACE function?

easy

A. REPLACE("XYZ", 1, 3, A1)

B. REPLACE(A1, "XYZ", 1, 3)

C. REPLACE(A1, 3, 1, "XYZ")

D. REPLACE(A1, 1, 3, "XYZ")

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall REPLACE syntax

   REPLACE(text, start_num, num_chars, new_text) replaces characters starting at start_num for num_chars length.

2. Step 2: Match syntax to question

   To replace first 3 characters in A1 with "XYZ", start_num=1, num_chars=3, new_text="XYZ".

3. Final Answer:

   REPLACE(A1, 1, 3, "XYZ") -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   REPLACE(text, 1, 3, "XYZ") correct syntax [OK]

Hint: REPLACE(text, start, length, new_text) replaces by position [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Swapping start_num and num_chars
• Putting new_text in wrong position
• Using SUBSTITUTE syntax for REPLACE

3. What will be the result of the formula =SUBSTITUTE("banana", "a", "o", 2)?

medium

A. "bonana"

B. "banana"

C. "banona"

D. "bonono"

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand SUBSTITUTE with instance number

   SUBSTITUTE(text, old_text, new_text, instance_num) replaces only the specified occurrence.

2. Step 2: Apply to "banana" replacing 2nd "a" with "o"

   "banana" has 'a' at positions 2, 4, and 6. The 2nd 'a' is at position 4, replaced by 'o' gives "banona".

3. Final Answer:

   "banona" -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Replace 2nd 'a' with 'o' = "banona" [OK]

Hint: SUBSTITUTE with instance replaces only that occurrence [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Replacing all 'a's instead of just the 2nd
• Confusing instance number with position
• Expecting REPLACE to work by matching text

4. The formula =REPLACE(A1, 2, 3, "XYZ") returns an error. Which is the most likely cause?

medium

A. The start position 2 is greater than the length of text in A1

B. Cell A1 is empty

C. The number of characters to replace is negative

D. The new text "XYZ" is too long

Solution

1. Step 1: Check REPLACE parameters

   REPLACE(text, start_num, num_chars, new_text) requires start_num within text length.

2. Step 2: Identify error cause

   If start_num (2) is greater than text length, REPLACE cannot start and returns error.

3. Final Answer:

   The start position 2 is greater than the length of text in A1 -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Start position must be within text length [OK]

Hint: Start position must be inside text length for REPLACE [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming empty cell causes error
• Thinking new text length matters
• Using negative number of characters

5. You have the text "Invoice12345" in cell A1. Which formula will replace the numeric part with "67890" regardless of how many digits the number has?

hard

A. REPLACE(A1, 8, LEN(A1)-7, "67890")

B. SUBSTITUTE(A1, "12345", "67890")

C. REPLACE(A1, 8, 5, "67890")

D. SUBSTITUTE(A1, MID(A1,8,5), "67890")

Solution

1. Step 1: Identify numeric part position and length

   The text "Invoice12345" has "Invoice" (7 chars) then numbers starting at position 8. Length of numbers is LEN(A1)-7.

2. Step 2: Use REPLACE with dynamic length

   REPLACE(A1, 8, LEN(A1)-7, "67890") replaces from position 8 for all digits, no matter how many.

3. Final Answer:

   REPLACE(A1, 8, LEN(A1)-7, "67890") -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Dynamic length replace = REPLACE with LEN() [OK]

Hint: Use LEN() to replace variable-length text with REPLACE [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Hardcoding length instead of using LEN()
• Using SUBSTITUTE which needs exact text match
• Using MID inside SUBSTITUTE incorrectly