When a statement reads data without making any modifications, its transaction obtains a shared lock on the data.

Another transaction that tries to read the same data is permitted to read, but a transaction that tries to update the data will be prevented from doing so until the shared lock is released. How long this shared lock is held depends on the isolation level of the transaction holding the lock. Transactions using the TRANSACTION_READ_COMMITTED isolation level release the lock when the transaction steps through to the next row. Transactions using the TRANSACTION_SERIALIZABLE or TRANSACTION_REPEATABLE_READ isolation level hold the lock until the transaction is committed, so even a SELECT can prevent updates if a commit is never issued. Transactions using the TRANSACTION_READ_UNCOMMITTED isolation level do not request any locks.