Es común tener miedo antes del examen oral.

Común is an adjective meaning common or normal, so Es común... means It is common...

By contrast, normalmente is an adverb meaning normally, and it would be used differently:

• Normalmente tengo miedo antes del examen oral. = I normally get scared before the oral exam.

So:

• Es común tener miedo... = a general statement
• Normalmente... = describes how something usually happens

In this sentence, Es común is the natural choice because it expresses a general fact.

In Spanish, the usual expression is tener miedo, literally to have fear, but it means to be afraid or to feel afraid.

This is one of those places where Spanish and English use different structures:

• English: to be afraid
• Spanish: tener miedo

Other examples:

• Tengo miedo. = I’m afraid.
• Ella tiene miedo de hablar en público. = She’s afraid of speaking in public.

So tener miedo is a fixed, very common expression.

Because tener miedo is a set expression. In Spanish, you normally say:

• tener miedo not
• tener el miedo

Using el miedo would usually sound unnatural here unless you are talking about a specific fear already mentioned.

Compare:

• Tengo miedo. = I’m afraid.
• Tengo el miedo que me describiste. = I have the fear you described.
  This is much less common and much more specific.

So in your sentence, tener miedo is exactly right.

Because de + el contracts to del in Spanish.

So:

• antes de + el examen → antes del examen

This contraction is required in normal Spanish.

The two main contractions you need to know are:

• a + el = al
• de + el = del

Examples:

• Voy al colegio.
• Vengo del mercado.

So antes del examen oral is the correct form.

Because antes often needs de when it is followed by a noun, pronoun, or infinitive.

Here it is followed by a noun phrase:

• el examen oral

So you say:

• antes del examen oral

More examples:

• antes de clase
• antes de comer
• antes de salir

You may see antes by itself when the rest is understood:

• Llegué antes. = I arrived earlier.

But in your sentence, de is necessary.

In Spanish, adjectives usually come after the noun, unlike in English.

So:

• examen oral = oral exam
• libro interesante = interesting book
• coche rojo = red car

That is the normal pattern.
Sometimes adjectives come before the noun, but that usually changes the tone or meaning. Here, oral is simply a descriptive adjective, so it naturally comes after examen.

Yes, oral is an adjective here, and it does happen to look very similar to the English word oral.

It describes the type of exam:

• examen oral = oral exam
• examen escrito = written exam

It agrees in number:

• examen oral
• exámenes orales

In this sentence, oral is masculine singular because it describes examen, which is masculine singular.

Because Es común tener miedo... is an impersonal structure. It means something like:

• It is common to be afraid...
• It’s common to feel afraid...

The sentence talks about people in general, not one specific person.

Spanish often uses this kind of impersonal expression:

• Es normal estar nervioso. = It’s normal to be nervous.
• Es difícil estudiar aquí. = It’s difficult to study here.

If you wanted to mention a person specifically, you could say:

• Es común que los estudiantes tengan miedo antes del examen oral.
• Los estudiantes suelen tener miedo antes del examen oral.

Yes. Spanish has two very common patterns here:

1. Es común + infinitive

   • Es común tener miedo antes del examen oral.

2. Es común que + subjunctive

   • Es común que los estudiantes tengan miedo antes del examen oral.

The difference is mainly structural:

• Use infinitive when speaking generally and no specific subject is stated.
• Use que + subjunctive when you introduce a subject, such as los estudiantes, la gente, yo, etc.

So your original sentence is general and very natural.

Because after Es común, Spanish often uses an infinitive to express a general action.

Structure:

• Es + adjective + infinitive

Examples:

• Es fácil aprender.
• Es importante descansar.
• Es normal dudar.
• Es común tener miedo.

This works like English It is common to...

So tener stays in the infinitive because it is not conjugated for any particular person.

Sometimes yes, but it is not exactly the same.

• tener miedo = to be afraid / to feel fear
• estar asustado = to be frightened / scared

Tener miedo is broader and very common for general fear or anxiety. Estar asustado often sounds more like being actively scared in a particular moment.

Compare:

• Es común tener miedo antes del examen oral. = very natural
• Es común estar asustado antes del examen oral. = possible, but slightly more emotional or immediate

For exam situations, tener miedo is usually the better everyday choice.

Because del refers to the oral exam, which sounds more specific.

• antes del examen oral = before the oral exam
• antes de un examen oral = before an oral exam

Both can be grammatically correct, but they mean slightly different things:

• del examen oral suggests a specific exam, or the exam in a known context
• de un examen oral means any oral exam in general

Your sentence works well because it can refer to the known oral exam in a typical school context.

Yes, it is perfectly natural and correct in Spain.

That said, native speakers might also use other very common alternatives, such as:

• Es normal tener miedo antes del examen oral.
• Es habitual tener miedo antes del examen oral.
• Es frecuente tener miedo antes del examen oral.

Among these:

• normal is probably the most everyday
• común is also correct and natural
• habitual and frecuente are a bit more formal or descriptive

So your sentence sounds good and idiomatic.

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

es ko-MUN te-NER MYE-do AN-tes del ek-SA-men o-RAL

A few helpful notes for Spain:

• común is stressed on the second syllable: co-MÚN
• miedo is two syllables: MIE-do
• examen is stressed on xa: e-XA-men
• oral is stressed on the last syllable: o-RAL

In much of Spain, c before e/i is pronounced like the th in think, so:

• examen does not have that sound
• but a word like hacer in Spain would

Nothing unusual happens in this sentence beyond normal stress patterns.

Here, común means common in the sense of frequent or normal.

It can sometimes also mean ordinary depending on context, but that is not the best interpretation here.

In this sentence:

• Es común tener miedo... = It is common to be afraid...

If you translated it as ordinary, it would sound less natural in English:

• It is ordinary to be afraid...
  That is understandable, but not the usual way to say it.

So for this sentence, common is the best match.