Learn Turkish: Adam arabayı çalıştıramadı çünkü lastik patladı. - The man could not start the car because the tire burst.

Let's break it down! The base is çalıştır (to start a machine). Then we add -a (the "inability" marker meaning "could not"), followed by -ma (the negative marker), and finally -dı (the past tense marker for "he/she/it"). Together, çalıştır-a-ma-dı means "he was unable to start (it)".

I thought the verb for "to work" was çalışmak. Why is it used for starting a car?

You're right! Çalışmak means "to work" or "to study". By adding the -tır suffix, it becomes çalıştırmak, which literally means "to make something work". In Turkish, this is the exact verb used for starting an engine, a machine, or a car.

Why does araba have the -yı suffix at the end?

The suffix -yı is the specific direct object marker (also called the accusative case). Because the man is trying to start a specific car ("the car", not just any car), we need to add the buffer -y- and the vowel -ı to araba.

Is patladı the usual way to say a tire went flat?

Yes! The verb patlamak literally means "to explode" or "to burst". In Turkish, instead of saying a tire "went flat", you say the tire burst: lastik patladı.