Stando alla prefettura, il ricorso è valido.

According to the Prefecture, the appeal is valid.

Breakdown of Stando alla prefettura, il ricorso è valido.

• essere: to be
• valido: valid
• il ricorso: the appeal
• la prefettura: the Prefecture

Questions & Answers about Stando alla prefettura, il ricorso è valido.

What does stando a mean in this sentence?

Here stando a means according to, judging by, or based on what is said by.

So Stando alla prefettura means according to the prefecture.

It is a fixed expression in Italian and is quite common in formal or semi-formal language.

Examples:

• Stando ai giornali, domani pioverà. = According to the newspapers, it will rain tomorrow.
• Stando a Marco, tutto è andato bene. = According to Marco, everything went well.

Is stando the gerund of stare? Does it literally mean standing?

Yes, stando is the gerund of stare.

However, in this expression, it does not literally mean standing in the English physical sense. Native English speakers often notice the form and try to connect it to physical position, but here that would be misleading.

In stando a, the gerund is part of an idiomatic expression meaning:

• according to
• on the basis of
• if we go by

So it is best to learn stando a as a whole chunk rather than translating stando word by word.

Why is it alla prefettura?