Glossary entry (derived from question below)
French term or phrase:
Il était contre.
English translation:
He didn't think they should.
French term
Il était contre.
The story is written in the first person from the perspective of a young school boy. At the point he is talking about his teacher.
Here is a the sentence leading up to it in the ST:
" Un moment, il parla des erreurs et des péchés que chacun peut commettre. Il était contre. "
Later he also says "— Attention ! N'oubliez jamais ce qui va se passer. Que cela vous serve de leçon !"
The obvious meaning of 'contre' is 'against'. However, since there is no direct object following the 'contre' it is very hard to work out what "Il était contre." might mean as a stand alone phrase.
I have translated the first sentence as, "At one point, he was talking about the mistakes and sins that everyone can commit." Therefore, I thought that maybe the teacher was warning the children not to commit sins.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated,
Cecilia
Jul 29, 2015 18:15: Rachel Fell changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Jul 30, 2015 18:02: Philippa Smith Created KOG entry
PRO (1): Simon Mac
Non-PRO (3): B D Finch, philgoddard, Rachel Fell
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Proposed translations
29 years turning out perfect English
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English
He didn't think they should.
To get this tone across, I suggest something like:
"... he talked about the mistakes and sins that everyone might find themselves commiting. He didn't think they should."
It would convey the ridiculous nature of the teacher's words: being against sinning when it's part of human nature.
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mill2
: Very well solved!
2 mins
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Thank you!
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Charles Davis
: I like this
14 mins
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Thanks Charles!
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writeaway
: word for word literal isn't always the way to go
1 hr
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Definitely not in literature. Ta!
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Lisa Jane
1 hr
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Thanks a lot!
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Simon Charass
: I like this.
5 hrs
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Thanks Simon!
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Sheri P
6 hrs
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Thanks Sheri!
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Yvonne Gallagher
15 hrs
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Thanks a lot!
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He was against it/that
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Note added at 6 mins (2015-07-29 16:53:47 GMT)
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See link below, under heading "adverbe":
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/translate/french-english/c...
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B D Finch
9 mins
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Thanks!
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patrickfor
: Usage normal pas une tournure.
14 mins
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Thanks!
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audetraduction
15 mins
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Thanks!
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philgoddard
: Philippa's idea is good too, but you were first.
32 mins
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Thanks!
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Chakib Roula
54 mins
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kashew
1 hr
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writeaway
: As asker states, this is the obvious answer. so imo she is clearly looking for something else
1 hr
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Yvonne Gallagher
15 hrs
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Native in: English 
, French
Works in: English to French, French to English, German to French, and 4 more.
roundly condemning them//making no bones of his feelings on the subject
On one occasion he talked of the sorts of mistakes and sins people may commit, roundly condemning their perpetrators
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Note added at 1 hr (2015-07-29 18:05:17 GMT)
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not hiding his disapproval
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Philippa Smith
: Since we're told the narrative voice is a young boy, I think this would be the wrong sort of language, too formal (tho' it's possible the author has used an 'older' more formal voice generally, it's a tricky issue when using the first person).
16 hrs
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He didn't approve.
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Charles Davis
: This is nice too
38 mins
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Thanks!
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Michele Fauble
58 mins
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Thanks!
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Sheri P
5 hrs
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Fanny Gendrau
12 hrs
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Simon Mac
13 hrs
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Discussion
With the way the previous sentence is phrased, "Un moment, il parla des erreurs et des péchés que chacun peut commettre", it is difficult to see how someone could express himself as being againt (or indeed for) making mistakes or commiting sins.