diff --git a/misc.go b/misc.go
index 518ec81..0f27b89 100644
--- a/misc.go
+++ b/misc.go
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ var NONCAPLPAREN_CHAR rune = 0xF0006 // Represents a non-capturing group's LPARE
 var ESC_BACKSLASH rune = 0xF0007     // Represents an escaped backslash
 var CHAR_RANGE rune = 0xF0008        // Represents a character range
 
+var specialChars = []rune{'?', '*', '\\', '^', '$', '{', '}', '(', ')', '[', ']', '+', '|', '.', '~', '<', '>', LBRACKET, RBRACKET, NONCAPLPAREN_CHAR}
+
 // An interface for int and rune, which are identical
 type character interface {
 	int | rune
@@ -32,9 +34,17 @@ func isWordBoundary(str []rune, idx int) bool {
 	return wbounded
 }
 
+func isSpecialChar(c rune) bool {
+	return slices.Contains(specialChars, c)
+
+}
+
+// Some special characters have metacharacter replacements. These characters, when encountered in their literal form, can be treated as regular characters.
+func isSpecialCharWithMetacharReplacement(c rune) bool {
+	return slices.Contains([]rune{'[', ']'}, c)
+}
+
 func isNormalChar(c rune) bool {
-	specialChars := []rune(`?*\^${}()+|[].~<>`)
-	specialChars = append(specialChars, LBRACKET, RBRACKET, NONCAPLPAREN_CHAR)
 	return !slices.Contains(specialChars, c)
 }