"Mahalo, e ʻai!"

Translation: Thanks, eat!

[cam.kemp]

"Thanks, eat!"
Is that proper hawaiian or does it have another meaning?

[KeelyLau]

that is proper hawaiian but i would say lets eat instead of eat

[PilimaiTraub]

Thanks, let's eat versus go eat, shouldnʻt it be hele ʻai for go eat, when we say E ʻai, as Hawaiians we are acknowledging everyone to eat, "go" is implied.

[Soy_Jaguar]

Would this be like Japanese "いただきます(Itadakimasu)！" Or more like Spanish "Buen Provecho"? I put thank you for the food as the translation and Duo marked it as incorrect, but gave me the answer as correct so I'm just a bit confused

[Soy_Jaguar]

I was also curious how either of those translate into Hawaiian

[MyPatronus]

For all of you who are confused, I think this is what they mean:

Thank you, come eat!

[Jazzjone]

I'm confused as to why " 'ae, e lei" means, "yes, wear a lei" while, " 'mahalo e 'ai" does not means "thanks for the food." .......

[Nia469532]

I believe the "e" before nouns means you're simply addressing the noun, but, the "e" before verbs turns it into a command. Because lei is a noun, it means you are just addressing it, but 'ai is a verb, which means the "e" before is asking you to eat.

[IgorRusski]

So people actually use it like this? It's not just a grammatical sentence, I hope..

[JessicaK.S]

Yes, we do say it like that. We are simple and welcoming, if you are a friend or a guest we will always invite you to eat with us if we have anything to give or share.

[KonradKond8]

What does "e" mean?

[SaliciaRem]

it's used like commanding action

[Grape513987]

Thats a weird thing to say "thanks,eat!"

[Throkir]

This seems to make no sense to me

[muna957449]

It dosent sound right

[jjx360]

Interesting.. is this a common expression used in everyday conversations?