inversion

Found in San Francisco is Lombard Street, the so-called crookedest street in the world
=> Lombard Street , the so-called crookedest street in the world,is found in San Francisco


Lost among the old tables and chairs was the priceless Victorian desk.
=>Among the old tables and chairs ,the priceless Victorian desk was lost.


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inversion :
putting an adverb or a verb at the begining of sentence

Eg.: I never eat apples. => Never do I eat apples.

你的句子的平舖直述，應是

Lombard Street, the so-called crookedest street in the world, is found in San Francisco.

The priceless Victorian desk was lost among the old tables and chairs.

Inversion 就是倒裝法吧。通常是有誇張意味的表達方法。以你的第一句子為例：把主詞 Lombard Street放在動詞之後，與平舖直述的句子即 Subject + Verb + ……不同，就是這倒裝的特色了。

Inversion除了有誇張作用外（第一句是誇張 San Francisco的無奇不有吧！）也可使創作不流於太枯悶。但不要誤會，用 Inversion去誇張或使創作多姿采，不能濫用，亦不能常用；也不見得可使作品好得多呢！

Lombard Street, the so-called crookedest street in the world, is found in San Francisco.

The priceless Victorian desk was lost among the old tables and chairs.