What does "one" from "I was the one" mean?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
"One" in this case refers to "someone", or an individual person. So "I was the one" means that I was the person. "One" usually refers to "someone" in this context, however, you can also use it to describe objects and mean a particular thing. Ex: I don't know which chair is the best one. Ex: You're the one I need to talk to.