common、ordinary、commonplace、general、usual、popular与universal这些形容词均含有“普通的、普遍的”之意。

common : 多用于指物，侧重很常见，不稀奇。

It's quite common to see couples who dress alike.

夫妻穿着相似是司空见惯的事儿。

"Smith" is a very common name in Britain.

“史密斯”是英国很常见的姓氏。

ordinary : 用于物，指每天发生，十分平淡无奇；用于人，指无特别之处，很一般。

an ordinary neighbourhood

普通的街区

Readers of the magazine said they wanted more stories about ordinary people and fewer stories about the rich and famous.

这本杂志的读者说他们希望多登一些普通人的故事，少登一些关于富人和名人的事情。

commonplace : 强调缺少新意。

现在一面倒的胜利不足为奇，被大家视为理所当然。

Now lopsided victories are commonplace and taken for granted.

（拓展学习：单词双拼 | commonplace 并非什么寻常地方）

general : 语气强于common，侧重大多如此，很少有例外情况。

The general feeling is that justice was not served.

普遍的看法是这样做没有达成公平合理。

There is general concern about rising crime rates.

人们普遍对犯罪率上升感到担忧。

My general impression of the place was good.

我对这个地方总的印象很好。

usual : 指常见常闻和常做的事或举动，强调惯常性。

I went to bed at my usual time.

我和平常一样准时上床睡觉。

You'll find the cutlery in its usual place.

你可以在平常放餐具的地方找到刀叉餐具。

Terry was, as usual, slow to respond.

泰瑞一向反应迟钝。

The library is open for business as usual despite the snowstorm.

尽管有雪暴，图书馆还是照常开门。

popular : 指适应大众爱好、需要，为大家所公认或接受。

popular music/entertainment/culture

流行音乐／大众化娱乐／通俗文化

The issue was virtually ignored by the popular press.

这件事实际上被通俗报刊忽视了。

The popular myth is that air travel is more dangerous than travel by car or bus.

一个普遍的错误之说是乘飞机比开车和乘公共汽车都要危险。

universal与general同义，但语气较强，侧重对每个人或事物都适用，根本没有例外。

a universal truth

普遍真理

Food, like sex, is a subject of almost universal interest.

像性一样，食物几乎也是人们普遍感兴趣的话题。

The new reforms have not met with universal approval within the party.

新的改革措施在政府内部还没有得到一致赞同。