One delivered wasn't one that had been ordered.

[Don Karnage]

Dear teachers,
we can often see the use of the word "one" in different ways.
For example, in "One should not use mobile phones when driving", one is a subject that refers to people in general.
In the sentence "The hotel that we had booked turned out to be a luxury one", one is refers to the noun (person or thing) mentioned before.

But, it seems to me that I've never seen when one was used as a subject that refers to things (not people).
For exampe: "One delivered wasn't one that had been ordered".
What's wrong with this sentence?
Is it grammatically correct?
Does it sound naturally? For me it sounds like we ordered a person, but not a thing.
Isn't it better to say "What was delivered wasn't what had been ordered"? Or "The delivered wasn't what had been ordered" ?

 

[Tarheel]

It's a made up sentence.

Try:

They delivered something that hadn't been ordered.

The thing they brought hadn't been ordered.

They delivered something we hadn't ordered.

They brought a pizza, but we hadn't ordered one.

They brought something we hadn't ordered.

They delivered something, but we hadn't ordered it.

 

[emsr2d2]

Dear teachers, Hi.
We can often see the use of the word "one" used in different ways.
For example, in "One should not use mobile phones when driving", one is a subject that refers to people in general.
In the sentence "The hotel that we had booked turned out to be a luxury one", one is refers to the noun (person or thing) mentioned before.

Note my corrections at the start of your post.

But, However, it seems to me that I've never seen when one was used as a subject that refers to things (not people).

As a learner, don't start sentences with "but".

For example, "The one that was delivered wasn't the one that had been ordered".
What's wrong with this sentence?

I've corrected what was wrong with it.

Is it grammatically correct?

No, it wasn't.

Does it sound naturally natural? For To me, it sounds like we ordered a person, but not a thing.

It's natural. We take "one" here to mean "the singular item".

I ordered a red iPhone cover but the one that was delivered was blue. (The one that arrived is not the one I ordered.)

Isn't it better to say "What was delivered wasn't what had been ordered" no question mark here or "The item that was delivered wasn't what had been ordered"?

No, it's not better. Your second suggestion wasn't grammatical either. I've corrected it above.

 

[Don Karnage]

Thank you for your corrections, it's great experience for me.
However, can you clarify some points, please?
1)

(The one that arrived is not the one I ordered.)

Shouldn't we use Past perfect here (... the one I had ordered), because we ordered before it arrived?

2)

It's natural. We take "one" here to mean "the singular item".

I ordered a red iPhone cover but the one that was delivered was blue. (The one that arrived is not the one I ordered.)

Again, it is clear that we use one when we are talking about the thing mentioned before. But what if it wasn't mentioned, what if the thing is not defined?
For example, John enter the room and see Peter upset. John asks, "Peter, why are you so sad?". To me, it sounds natural to hear from Peter "What was delivered wasn't what had been ordered", but is it OK to hear "The one that was delivered wasn't the one that had been ordered"?

 

[emsr2d2]

1) Shouldn't we use the past perfect here (... the one I had ordered), because we ordered before it arrived?

No. The past perfect would be required if we backshifted the whole thing and related the story at a later date, as in "The one that arrived was not the one I had ordered".

2) Again, it is clear that we use one when we are talking about the thing something that has been mentioned before. But However, what if it wasn't hasn't been mentioned? What if the thing is not defined?

As I said in my previous post, as a learner, don't try to start sentences with "but".

For example, John enters the a room and sees Peter upset. John asks, "Peter, why are you so sad?" no full stop here To me, it sounds natural to hear from Peter "What was delivered wasn't what had been ordered", but is it OK to hear "The one that was delivered wasn't the one that had been ordered"?

If John has absolutely no idea of the events that have led to Peter being upset, neither sentence will make any sense to him.

John: Peter, why are you so upset?
Peter: I ordered a [noun] but the one that turned up isn't what I ordered.

 

[Tarheel]

I find "upset" to be entirely the wrong word here. I can see "disappointed", but I think "upset" is too strong.

 

[emsr2d2]

I find "upset" to be entirely the wrong word here. I can see "disappointed", but I think "upset" is too strong.

I don't think it's unreasonable. If it was, for example, a birthday present for someone very important to Peter and the wrong thing turned up, that could completely ruin the birthday. That would be upsetting.