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2.5.Absolute PPs
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This section is concerned with absolute prepositional phrases, that is, constructions in which the complement of the preposition consists of two parts that stand in a predication relation: in (68), for instance, the locational PP in het doel'in the goal' is predicated of the located object een goede keeper. The difference between met and zonder in (68a&b) is that the first makes a positive statement about the predicative relation, whereas the latter makes a negative statement.

68
a. Met een goede keeper in het doel kunnen we niet verliezen.
  with  a good goalkeeper in the goal  can  we  not  lose
  'With a good goalkeeper in the goal we cannot lose.'
b. Zonder een goede keeper in het doel kunnen we niet winnen.
  without  a good goalkeeper  in the goal can  we  not  win
  'Without a good goalkeeper in the goal we cannot win.'

A note on the used terminology may be in order. The constructions in (68) are called absolute because they seem to behave like the modern Indo-European counterparts of the old Indo-European absolute constructions which made use of absolute case forms: Dutch still has some fossilized relics of absolute case, such as blootshoofds'with his head bare' with an old genitive.

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