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Mi sveglio e apro gli occhi.

Mi sveglio e apro gli occhi.
I wake up and open my eyes.
From Lesson 61:Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)·Italian

Breakdown of Mi sveglio e apro gli occhi.

e
and
aprire
to open
svegliarsi
to wake up
l'occhio
the eye (m)

Questions & Answers about Mi sveglio e apro gli occhi.

Why is there a mi before sveglio?
Sveglio comes from the reflexive verb svegliarsi (to wake up). In Italian, many daily routine verbs are reflexive, meaning the action reflects back on the subject. You are literally saying "I wake myself", so you need the reflexive pronoun mi (myself) before the verb.
Where is the word for "I" in this sentence?
It is built right into the verbs! The -o ending on both sveglio and apro tells us that "I" am doing the action. You don't need to add the subject pronoun io (I) at the beginning unless you want to add special emphasis.
Why does the sentence say gli occhi (the eyes) instead of using a word for "my"?
In Italian, when you talk about doing something to your own body parts or clothing, you usually just use the definite article (like il, la, or gli) instead of a possessive word. Since the sentence already establishes that you are the one waking up, it is obvious whose eyes are being opened.
Why use the article gli for occhi?
Occhi is the plural of occhio (eye). Because it is a masculine noun that starts with a vowel, it takes the plural article gli (the) instead of i.

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