Learn Italian: Il veterinario è arrivato e vuole che tu inizi la cura. - The vet has arrived and wants you to start the treatment.

The verb vuole (wants) is a verb of volition or desire. In Italian, when the subject wants someone else to do something, you use a verb of desire + che + the subjunctive mood. Because the vet wants you to act, the second verb must be in the subjunctive.

Wait, doesn't the normal present tense of iniziare for tu also end in -i?

Yes! For regular -are verbs like iniziare, the present subjunctive forms for io, tu, and lui/lei all end in -i. So tu inizi happens to look exactly the same in both the regular present tense and the subjunctive. The only way to know it is subjunctive here is the trigger vuole che.

Why is the pronoun tu included before inizi? Can't we just say vuole che inizi?

You can leave it out, but including tu adds necessary clarity here. Because the subjunctive forms for io, tu, and lui/lei are identical (they are all inizi), adding the pronoun makes it perfectly clear that the vet wants you to start the treatment, rather than saying I should start it or someone else should.

Is cura a false friend here? Does it mean cure or treatment?