Comprobamos el aforo antes de contratar el servicio de catering.

Comprobamos is the 1st person plural present tense of comprobar, so it literally means we check or we verify.

In this sentence, it most naturally means something like:

• We check the capacity...
• We verify the occupancy limit...

Depending on context, the Spanish present can also sound like a routine or standard procedure, so it could imply we usually check or we check as a step in the process.

Because Spanish often omits subject pronouns when the verb already makes the subject clear.

• Comprobamos already tells you the subject is we
• So nosotros comprobamos is possible, but usually unnecessary

You would normally only add nosotros if you want emphasis or contrast, for example:

• Nosotros comprobamos el aforo, pero ellos no.
  We check the capacity, but they do not.

Not normally in this sentence.

Comprobamos is the present tense: we check.

If you want let’s check, Spanish usually uses:

• Comprobemos...
  Let’s check...

So:

• Comprobamos el aforo... = We check the capacity...
• Comprobemos el aforo... = Let’s check the capacity...

That change from -amos to -emos is important here.

Aforo is a very useful word in Spain. It usually refers to the maximum number of people allowed in a place, often for legal or safety reasons.

So it is not just:

• the physical size of a room
• the amount of space available

It is more specifically:

• capacity
• maximum occupancy
• occupancy limit

For example, a venue may be large, but its aforo might still be limited by safety regulations.

Spanish often uses the definite article more than English does.

Here, el aforo means the capacity / the occupancy limit, referring to the specific venue or place involved in the situation.

So Spanish prefers:

• Comprobamos el aforo...

rather than leaving the noun bare.

This is very common with concrete nouns in Spanish, especially when the speaker has a specific thing in mind.

Because after antes in this structure, Spanish uses de before an infinitive:

• antes de + infinitive

So:

• antes de contratar = before hiring / before booking

This is a fixed and very common pattern:

• antes de salir = before leaving
• antes de comer = before eating
• antes de pagar = before paying

So antes contratar would be incorrect.

Because after a preposition like de, Spanish uses the infinitive when the action is general and there is no new conjugated subject introduced.

Here:

• antes de contratar el servicio de catering

means before hiring / before booking the catering service

This works especially well when the subject is the same as in the main clause:

• Comprobamos ... antes de contratar ...
  We check ... before hiring ...

If the subject changes, Spanish often uses a different structure:

• antes de que + subjunctive

Example:

• Comprobamos el aforo antes de que ellos contraten el catering.

Yes. Contratar literally means to hire, to contract, or to engage a service.

In this context, English might naturally say:

• hire the catering service
• book the catering
• arrange the catering

So contratar is a good verb because catering is being treated as a service you are purchasing or engaging.

It is broader than just employing a person.

Both can exist, but el servicio de catering is a bit more explicit and formal.

It emphasizes that catering is being viewed as a service being contracted.

So:

• el catering = the catering
• el servicio de catering = the catering service

In business, event-planning, or formal contexts, Spanish often likes this fuller expression.

Yes. In Spain, catering is commonly used as a borrowed word, especially in hospitality, events, and business contexts.

So servicio de catering sounds very natural in modern Spanish from Spain.

Depending on context, speakers might also say things like:

• servicio de comidas
• servicio de comida
• banquete (in some specific contexts)

But catering is very common and widely understood.

The structure is:

• Comprobamos = verb
• el aforo = direct object
• antes de contratar el servicio de catering = time expression / subordinate infinitive phrase

So the sentence is basically:

• We check the capacity before hiring the catering service.

A helpful breakdown is:

• Comprobamos → what do we do?
• el aforo → what do we check?
• antes de contratar... → when / before what action?

Yes, but the meaning may shift slightly.

Possible alternatives include:

• verificar — more formal, to verify
• revisar — to check/review, sometimes more like inspecting
• chequear — understood, but often feels more informal or influenced by English
• mirar — literally to look at, less precise here

In this sentence, comprobar works very well because it suggests confirming a fact, such as the legal or practical capacity of a venue.

It could be either, because the Spanish present tense is flexible.

Comprobamos el aforo... can mean:

• We check the capacity... as a habitual procedure
• We are checking / we check... in a current situation, depending on context
• even a kind of narrative present in some contexts

If you wanted to make the one-time past meaning clearer, you might say:

• Comprobamos el aforo antes de contratar el servicio de catering.
  This can still work in some narrative contexts, but on its own it is usually read as present.
• Comprobamos el aforo ayer... if context supports it
• Comprobamos can also be preterite in form, but without context, learners usually first read it as present we check

So this is one of those forms where context matters a lot.