Learn Turkish: Araba almaya kalkışacaktım ama kararsızlığım beni durdurdu. - I was going to attempt to buy a car, but my indecision stopped me.

The verb kalkışmak (to attempt / to undertake) always directs its action using the dative case. To say "attempt to buy," we take the short verbal noun alma (buying) and add the dative suffix -(y)a, giving us almaya kalkışacaktım.

How does kalkışacaktım show that this is an unfulfilled action?

It uses the "future in the past" tense combination: the future suffix -acak followed by the past tense -tı (plus the personal ending -m). Together, -acaktı means "was going to," which in Turkish strongly implies an intention that was planned but ultimately didn't happen.

Let's break down the abstract noun kararsızlığım. How is it formed?

It starts with the base noun karar (decision). The suffix -sız makes it the adjective kararsız (without decision / indecisive). The suffix -lık turns it into the abstract noun kararsızlık (indecision). Finally, adding the possessive -ım (my) causes consonant mutation, softening the k to a ğ to create kararsızlığım (my indecision).

Could I use çalışacaktım (I was going to try) instead of kalkışacaktım?