The phrase "a common distinction" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when referring to a widely recognized or accepted difference between two or more concepts, categories, or groups.
Example: "In philosophy, a common distinction is made between the concepts of knowledge and belief."
Alternatives: "a widely accepted difference" or "a frequent differentiation".
It's a common distinction to make.
DANIEL J. MOONEY of Bridgeport, a World War II veteran, and two of his grandsons shared a common distinction this June.
A common distinction drawn in the public policy literature that addresses policy narratives is a distinction made between persuasion and mobilization (see Peterson and Jones, 2016).
Yet, each research investigation also has a corresponding study design or "architecture," and in patient-oriented research a common distinction used to describe such designs are randomized controlled trials (RCTs) versus observational studies.
Any empirical science defines its own criteria of pragmatic validity.9 A common distinction in empirical sciences is the distinction between internal and external validity.
We noted above that a common distinction within the field of psychological attributes is that between conscious and unconscious mental states, and several panpsychists have appealed to this distinction in setting forth their doctrines.
In addition to this classification of the aims of an argument, there is a more common distinction among arguments in terms of their structure.
Haidt's starting point is an increasingly common distinction in psychology between two kinds of cognitive process.
Proposing to provide clarity in a turbulent time for art, Kandinsky pointed out that the common distinction between "modern" and "old-fashioned" artists was not a useful one, because the division changed with every new fad.
It is a common political distinction.
These results indicate that the requirement for NELF is revealing a common functional distinction between the properties of these several different reporter genes and the endogenous chromosomal loci.
