The delete[] operator is used to delete arrays. The delete operator is used to delete non-array objects. It calls operator delete[] and operator delete function respectively to delete the memory that the array or non-array object occupied after (eventually) calling the destructors for the array's elements or the non-array object.
The following shows the relations:
typedef int array_type[1];
// create and destroy a int[1]
array_type *a = new array_type;
delete [] a;
// create and destroy an int
int *b = new int;
delete b;
// create and destroy an int[1]
int *c = new int[1];
delete[] c;
// create and destroy an int[1][2]
int (*d)[2] = new int[1][2];
delete [] d;
For the new that creates an array (so, either the new type[] or new applied to an array type construct), the Standard looks for an operator new[] in the array's element type class or in the global scope, and passes the amount of memory requested. It may request more than N * sizeof(ElementType) if it wants (for instance to store the number of elements, so it later when deleting knows how many destructor calls to done). If the class declares an operator new[] that additional to the amount of memory accepts another size_t, that second parameter will receive the number of elements allocated - it may use this for any purpose it wants (debugging, etc...).
For the new that creates a non-array object, it will look for an operator new in the element's class or in the global scope. It passes the amount of memory requested (exactly sizeof(T) always).
For the delete[], it looks into the arrays' element class type and calls their destructors. The operator delete[] function used is the one in the element type's class, or if there is none then in the global scope.
For the delete, if the pointer passed is a base class of the actual object's type, the base class must have a virtual destructor (otherwise, behavior is undefined). If it is not a base class, then the destructor of that class is called, and an operator delete in that class or the global operator delete is used. If a base class was passed, then the actual object type's destructor is called, and the operator delete found in that class is used, or if there is none, a global operator delete is called. If the operator delete in the class has a second parameter of type size_t, it will receive the number of elements to deallocate.