New concept

Verbs you do to yourself

In English you simply get up. In Italian you raise yourself: alzarsi. The -si on the end of the infinitive marks a reflexive verb — one where the person doing the action is also the one it happens to.

When you conjugate, that -si becomes a small pronoun that matches the subject, and it goes before the verb:

Subject Pronoun alzarsi
io mi mi alzo — I get up
tu ti ti alzi
lui / lei / Lei si si alza
noi ci ci alziamo
voi vi vi alzate
loro si si alzano

The verb itself is perfectly ordinary: drop -si, and alzare conjugates like parlare. Only the pronoun is new.