Voy a fotocopiar el documento antes de llevarlo al ayuntamiento.

Voy a + infinitive is a very common way to talk about a planned or expected future action in Spanish, especially in everyday speech.

So:

• Voy a fotocopiar el documento = I’m going to photocopy the document
• Fotocopiaré el documento = I will photocopy the document

Both are correct, but voy a + infinitive often sounds more natural and conversational when talking about a plan or intention.

This is the near future or periphrastic future structure:

• voy = I go / I am going from the verb ir
• a = part of the structure
• fotocopiar = infinitive, to photocopy

So the pattern is:

ir + a + infinitive

Examples:

• Voy a llamar = I’m going to call
• Vamos a salir = We’re going to leave
• Van a llegar tarde = They’re going to arrive late

Here, voy does not literally mean physical movement. It is just part of the future construction.

Yes, fotocopiar is a perfectly normal verb and is easy to understand.

In Spain, you may also hear:

• hacer una fotocopia
• sacar una fotocopia

So these are all possible:

• Voy a fotocopiar el documento
• Voy a hacer una fotocopia del documento
• Voy a sacar una fotocopia del documento

They are very similar in meaning. Fotocopiar is straightforward and natural.

Because antes normally needs de before a noun or an infinitive.

So you say:

• antes de llevarlo
• antes de salir
• antes de comer

Not:

• antes llevarlo
• antes salir

A useful rule is:

• antes de + infinitive when the subject is the same
• antes de que + subjunctive when the subject changes

Examples:

• Voy a fotocopiar el documento antes de llevarlo al ayuntamiento
  Same subject: I photocopy it, and I take it.
• Voy a fotocopiar el documento antes de que María lo lleve al ayuntamiento
  Different subject: I photocopy it, but María takes it.

Llevarlo = llevar + lo

• llevar = to take / to carry / to bring
• lo = it, referring to el documento

So lo is the direct object pronoun replacing el documento.

Because documento is:

• masculine
• singular

the pronoun is lo.

Compare:

• el documento → lo
• la carta → la
• los documentos → los
• las cartas → las

In Spanish, object pronouns are attached to an infinitive.

So:

• llevarlo = to take it
• fotocopiarlo = to photocopy it
• hacerlo = to do it

That is why you get antes de llevarlo.

With a conjugated verb + infinitive structure, Spanish often allows two positions:

• Lo voy a fotocopiar
• Voy a fotocopiarlo

Both are correct.

But after antes de, there is only an infinitive, so llevarlo is the normal form.
You do not say antes de lo llevar.

Because a + el contracts to al in Spanish.

So:

• a + el = al
• de + el = del

That gives:

• llevarlo al ayuntamiento
• ir al banco
• volver del trabajo

This contraction is normally mandatory.

In Spain, ayuntamiento usually refers to the town hall, city hall, or the local council/municipal government.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• the building
• the office
• the institution itself

So in this sentence, it most likely means taking the document to the local municipal office.

This is a very Spain-specific everyday word. In Latin America, other terms may be more common in some places, depending on the country.

Spanish distinguishes between llevar and traer more clearly than English often does.

• llevar = to take something away from the speaker or reference point
• traer = to bring something toward the speaker or reference point

In this sentence, the document is being taken to the town hall, so llevar makes sense.

Very roughly:

• llevar al ayuntamiento = take it to the town hall
• traer al ayuntamiento would suggest bringing it toward a point of reference located there or toward the person speaking from there

Yes, absolutely.

Both are possible:

• Voy a fotocopiar el documento antes de llevarlo al ayuntamiento
• Lo voy a fotocopiar antes de llevarlo al ayuntamiento

The difference is mainly one of style and context:

• Using el documento is clearer if it is being mentioned for the first time.
• Using lo sounds natural if everyone already knows which document you mean.

The original sentence introduces the noun first, then uses lo to refer back to it.

Because Spanish does not need to repeat the object if the noun is already stated.

Here:

• fotocopiar already has the full object: el documento
• later, llevarlo uses lo to refer back to that same object

So the sentence works like this:

1. mention the thing clearly: el documento
2. refer back to it with a pronoun: lo

You could also say:

• Voy a fotocopiarlo antes de llevarlo al ayuntamiento

That is grammatical too, but the original version often sounds a bit more balanced and clear.

Yes. Documento is a masculine noun, so it takes:

• el documento
• un documento
• lo when replaced by a direct object pronoun

If the noun were feminine, the pronoun would change:

• la solicitud → la
• Voy a rellenar la solicitud antes de llevarla al ayuntamiento

So the pronoun must agree with the noun it replaces in gender and number.

No, not with the same meaning.

• antes de means before
• para usually means for or in order to

So:

• antes de llevarlo al ayuntamiento = before taking it to the town hall

If you used para, the meaning would change:

• Voy a fotocopiar el documento para llevarlo al ayuntamiento
  = I’m going to photocopy the document in order to take it to the town hall

That means the photocopying is done for that purpose, not simply before that action. Sometimes both ideas fit, but they are not the same grammar or the same meaning.