Stando al parcometro, la sosta è terminata.

In this sentence, stando a means according to or if we go by.

So:

• Stando al parcometro = According to the parking meter
• more literally: Going by the parking meter

It comes from the verb stare, but here it is part of a fixed expression: stando a + noun/pronoun.

Examples:

• Stando ai giornali, domani pioverà. = According to the newspapers, it will rain tomorrow.
• Stando a lui, è tutto vero. = According to him, it’s all true.

So you should learn stando a as a set phrase.

Because a + il = al.

This is a standard contraction in Italian:

• a + il = al
• a + lo = allo
• a + la = alla
• a + i = ai
• a + gli = agli
• a + le = alle

So:

• stando a il parcometro → stando al parcometro

Yes. Stando is the gerund of stare.

The gerund often corresponds to English -ing forms, but not always directly. Here it does not mean something like standing in a physical sense. Instead, it is part of the idiomatic expression stando a = according to / judging from / going by.

So this is a good example of why you should not translate gerunds word for word.

Parcometro means parking meter.

It is made up of:

• parco- related to parking
• -metro meaning meter/device for measuring

In context, it refers to the machine or displayed time that tells you how long parking is valid.

La sosta means the parking period / the stop / the time parked.

In this sentence, la sosta è terminata means that the allowed parking time has ended.

Why not il parcheggio?

Because parcheggio can mean several things:

• a parking lot
• parking
• the act of parking

But sosta is often used in formal or official language for the period during which a vehicle is stopped or parked.

So on signs, meters, or regulations, sosta is very common.

Examples:

• divieto di sosta = no parking / no stopping
• sosta consentita = parking allowed

Because terminare is being used intransitively here: the parking period ended.

So:

• la sosta è terminata = the parking period has ended / is over

With many verbs that describe a change of state or endpoint, Italian often uses essere in compound tenses.

Compare:

• Il film è terminato. = The film ended.
• La riunione è cominciata. = The meeting started.

If you said ha terminato, that would usually need a subject that actively finishes something:

• L’autista ha terminato la sosta. = The driver ended the parking period.

But that is not the idea here. The sentence means that the parking time itself has expired.

Because it agrees with la sosta, which is:

• feminine
• singular

With essere in compound tenses, the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

So:

• la sosta è terminata = feminine singular
• il periodo è terminato = masculine singular
• le soste sono terminate = feminine plural
• i periodi sono terminati = masculine plural

This agreement is an important feature of compound tenses with essere.

It can mean either, depending on how you translate it into natural English.

Literally, it is a present perfect:

• has ended

But in many contexts, natural English would say:

• is over
• has expired

So all of these can fit the idea:

• According to the parking meter, the parking period has ended.
• According to the parking meter, your parking time is over.
• Going by the meter, the parking has expired.

That opening phrase sets the source of information first:

• Stando al parcometro = According to the parking meter

This is very natural in Italian. It works like a frame for the rest of the sentence: if we rely on the meter, then the parking period is over.

Italian often places this kind of introductory phrase at the beginning.

You could also rearrange it:

• La sosta, stando al parcometro, è terminata.

But the original order is smoother and more natural.

It sounds fairly neutral to slightly formal, especially because of la sosta.

A more everyday way to say something similar might be:

• Secondo il parcometro, il tempo è scaduto.
• Il parcheggio è scaduto.
• Il tempo del parcheggio è finito.

But Stando al parcometro, la sosta è terminata sounds perfectly natural in contexts like:

• notices
• reports
• official explanations
• formal descriptions

Yes. Secondo il parcometro also means according to the parking meter.

The difference is mostly one of style:

• Secondo il parcometro = straightforward, common
• Stando al parcometro = a bit more idiomatic and slightly more elegant or formal

Both are correct.

Examples:

• Secondo il parcometro, la sosta è terminata.
• Stando al parcometro, la sosta è terminata.

Both mean essentially the same thing.

Yes, exactly. That is one of the reasons è terminata works well here.

It presents the end of the parking period as a state/change that happened, not as an action performed by a person.

So it sounds like:

• the allowed time ran out
• the parking period came to an end
• the permit expired

That fits the context of a meter very well.

Most likely, yes. Because of parcometro, the sentence strongly suggests metered parking, so la sosta è terminata would normally be understood as the paid/allowed parking time has run out.

In real-life use, the idea is not just that the car is parked, but that the authorized time shown by the meter is no longer valid.