Here's a general breakdown:
* Greek Roots: Tend to be more scientific, philosophical, and abstract. They often deal with concepts like:
* Biology: -bio (life), -zoo (animal), -phyt (plant)
* Philosophy: -logos (word, reason), -soph (wisdom), -phil (love)
* Science: -meter (measure), -graph (writing), -scope (look at)
* Latin Roots: Tend to be more practical, everyday, and concrete. They often deal with concepts like:
* Daily Life: -aqua (water), -terra (earth), -corpus (body)
* Government and Law: -civ (citizen), -leg (law), -jud (judge)
* Military: -mil (soldier), -bellum (war), -arma (arms)
Examples:
* Telephone: "Tele" is Greek (distant) and "phone" is Greek (sound).
* Television: "Tele" is Greek (distant) and "vision" is Latin (sight).
* Agriculture: "Agri" is Latin (field) and "culture" is Latin (cultivation).
It's helpful to know that:
* Some words have Greek and Latin roots combined: "Biology" uses both Greek roots ("bio" and "logos").
* Many words have prefixes and suffixes that come from both languages.
* It's not always easy to tell the origin of a root without looking it up.
Let me know if you have specific words you'd like me to analyze.