Комбинация состоит из четырёх символов.

In Russian, the verb состоять is normally used with the preposition из when you mean to consist of.

• состоять из чего? = to consist of what?

So:

• Комбинация состоит из четырёх символов.

A very literal breakdown is:

• комбинация = combination
• состоит = consists
• из = of / out of
• четырёх символов = four symbols

This pattern is very common:

• Дом состоит из двух этажей. = The house consists of two floors.
• Группа состоит из пяти человек. = The group consists of five people.

Because after из, Russian uses the genitive case.

The basic number is:

• четыре = four

But in the genitive, it changes to:

• четырёх = of four

Since состоять из requires the genitive, you get:

• из четырёх символов

Compare:

• четыре символа = four symbols
• из четырёх символов = of four symbols

So the number changes because the whole phrase after из must be in the genitive.

This is a very common point of confusion, because Russian number phrases change depending on the grammar around them.

If you just say four symbols, you usually get:

• четыре символа

Here, after четыре, the noun is in a special form that looks like the genitive singular: символа.

But in the sentence:

• из четырёх символов

the whole phrase is governed by из, so Russian uses the genitive plural for the noun:

• символов

So:

• четыре символа = four symbols
• из четырёх символов = of four symbols

This same pattern happens with many nouns:

• три книги → из трёх книг
• четыре дома → из четырёх домов

Состоит is the 3rd person singular present tense form of состоять.

Why this form?

• The subject is комбинация, which is singular.
• So the verb must also be singular.

Conjugation of состоять in the present tense:

• я состою
• ты состоишь
• он / она состоит
• мы состоим
• вы состоите
• они состоят

So:

• Комбинация состоит... = The combination consists...

Russian has no articles like English a/an and the.

So комбинация can mean:

• a combination
• the combination

The exact meaning depends on context.

That means Russian speakers do not need to add a separate word for the. The sentence simply starts with:

• Комбинация...

and context tells you whether it means a combination or the combination.

Yes, комбинация is a feminine noun, and that matters because Russian verbs in the past tense and adjectives often agree with gender.

In this sentence, though, the verb is in the present tense:

• состоит

In the present tense, Russian verbs do not show gender, only person and number. So here, the fact that комбинация is feminine does not change the verb form.

You can still recognize it as feminine from its ending:

• nouns ending in -а / -я are often feminine
• комбинация ends in -я

If this sentence were in the past tense, gender would show:

• Комбинация состояла из четырёх символов. = The combination consisted of four symbols.

Here состояла is feminine.

Yes. Russian word order is more flexible than English word order, because case endings show the grammatical relationships.

The neutral, standard order is:

• Комбинация состоит из четырёх символов.

But other orders are possible for emphasis, for example:

• Из четырёх символов состоит комбинация.
• Состоит комбинация из четырёх символов.

These sound more marked or stylistic. In normal everyday usage, the original order is the most natural.

So for learners, the best version to use is:

• Комбинация состоит из четырёх символов.

The correct pronunciation is with ё:

• четырёх ≈ chy-ty-RYOKH

In printed Russian, native texts often write е instead of ё, so you may see:

• четырех

But it is still pronounced четырёх, not четырех with a plain e sound.

This happens with many Russian words. For learners, it is helpful to remember that:

• ё always carries stress
• when ё is omitted in writing, you often need vocabulary knowledge to know it is really ё

So in careful learner-friendly spelling, четырёх is very useful.

Yes. In many contexts, символ can mean:

• symbol
• character
• sign

In technical contexts such as passwords, codes, or strings of text, символ is often used where English might say character.

So depending on context:

• четыре символа can mean four symbols
• but it can also naturally mean four characters

That is a vocabulary difference rather than a grammar issue. Russian often uses символ in places where English speakers might expect character.