que vs qui?

Question

Confused by "j'ai découvert la jungle urbaine que représentent les transports en commun"  versus
j'ai découvert la jungle urbaine qui représentent les transports en commun"

Is "la jungle urbaine' the subject or the object here?  I read it as the subject, as in "I discovered the urban jungle that is public transport". (?)

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Ian,
'que' is used here because it refers to ''jungle urbaine' which is the object of the verb 'représentent'. The subject of 'représentent' is 'les transports en commun' (clue: ending of 'représentent' -> 3rd person of the plural = ils / elles - they). As 'jungle urbaine' is singular it cannot be the subject. As per the lesson content: "In grammar jargon, we use qui when it's the subject of the verb, and que when it's the object of the verb." 
qui-to-say-who-which-or-that-relative-pronouns
que-to-say-whom-which-or-that-relative-pronouns
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

Ian

Worth a look at the 'en résumé' section of the attached by Laura Lawless for further reference on why 'que-verb' construct is correct here, contrary to the more usually seen 'qui-verb' construct.

This use of inversion in French is quite difficult to get one's head around, I find !

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/relative-pronouns-que-qui/