Echamos un vistazo al informe.

Yes. Echar un vistazo is a very common fixed expression meaning to have a look or to take a quick look.

Literally, echar often means to throw, and vistazo is related to vista (sight/view), but together the phrase is idiomatic. You should learn echar un vistazo as a chunk.

So:

• Echamos un vistazo al informe = We have a look at the report / Let’s take a look at the report

It usually suggests a quick or practical look, not a long, careful study.

Because Spanish, like English, uses many verbs in idiomatic expressions where the literal meaning is not the main point.

In this expression:

• echar un vistazo does not mean to throw a glance in a literal way
• it simply means to take/have a look

This is similar to how English says take a look even though you are not literally taking anything.

So here, it is best not to translate echar word for word.

Echamos is the first person plural form of echar, so it means we have/take or, depending on context, let’s have/take.

It can work in different ways:

• We take a look at the report
• We’re taking a look at the report
• Let’s take a look at the report (in conversational context)

Spanish often uses the present tense more flexibly than English, so the exact English translation depends on the situation.

Yes. Echamos can be either:

• present: we throw / we take
• preterite: we threw / we took

The form is the same in spelling, so context tells you which meaning is intended.

For example:

• Echamos un vistazo al informe y luego nos fuimos = We took a look at the report and then left
• Ahora echamos un vistazo al informe = Now we’ll take a look at the report

So if you see echamos by itself, the sentence around it matters.

Because Spanish usually leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

The ending -amos already tells you the subject is we, so nosotros is unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

So both are possible:

• Echamos un vistazo al informe
• Nosotros echamos un vistazo al informe

The first is more natural in most situations.

Because a + el contracts to al in Spanish.

So:

• a + el informe → al informe

This contraction is required in normal Spanish.

Also, informe is a masculine singular noun, so it takes el:

• el informe = the report

That is why you get al informe.

Because the expression is echar un vistazo a algo/alguien.

So the pattern is:

• echar un vistazo a + noun

Examples:

• echar un vistazo al informe
• echar un vistazo a la pantalla
• echar un vistazo a los datos

In English, we say have a look at something. In Spanish, the equivalent structure is echar un vistazo a something.

Yes, you could, but the nuance is a little different.

• Echar un vistazo al informe = take/have a quick look at the report
• Mirar el informe = look at the report

Mirar is more general and neutral.
Echar un vistazo often suggests something quicker, lighter, or more informal.

So if you want the idea of just quickly checking it, echar un vistazo is often better.

Yes, in this expression the article is normally part of the phrase:

• echar un vistazo

You would not normally say just echar vistazo.

This is similar to other common Spanish expressions where the noun appears with an article:

• dar un paseo
• tener una idea
• hacer una pregunta

So it is best to learn the full expression as:

• echar un vistazo a...

In standard peninsular Spanish, z is pronounced like the th in think.

So vistazo in Spain sounds roughly like:

• bees-TA-tho

A few pronunciation notes:

• v and b sound very similar in Spanish
• z in Spain = English th in think
• ch in echamos sounds like English ch in chat

So:

• Echamos ≈ eh-CHA-mos
• vistazo ≈ bees-TA-tho
• informe ≈ een-FOR-me

In much of Latin America, z would sound like s instead, but for Spain the th sound is the usual model.