by Gareth Spencer
When you select an object in Revit the Ribbon switches to the Modify tab with some Contextual information on the end (As shown in below image).
You can change the behaviour of Tab switching in Revit by going into your options menu, click on the 
Applications Menu/Options.
Please Note: I am using Revit 2013 here so on earlier versions it may look different.
Select User Interface (TAB) and at the bottom there is a set Tab Switching Behaviour.
If you un-tick ‘Display the contextual tab on screen’ this will not switch to the Modify Contextual tab on the Ribbon when you select an object in Revit (As shown in below image).
You can also control whether the Ribbon switches back to the previous tab or stays on the modify tab