If I am on the other side of a hill or non-line-of-sight with a walkie-talkie, can I communicate at all?

Will it be absolutely impossible to talk with the walkie-talkie even from a short distance if there is no line of sight? If not, how much will a non-line-of-sight communication affect the quality and distance?If I am on the other side of a hill or non-line-of-sight with a walkie-talkie, can I communicate at all?
%26gt;Apparently mobile phones require a line-of-sight as well. I can use my mobile phone inside my house, yet there is no line of sight. How does this work?

Line of sight for radio waves is not the same as for light! Radio waves can go through a lot of stuff that light can't go through. But they can't go through a pile of dirt %26amp; rocks! Mobile phones use a lot shorter wave lengths than typical walkie-talkies, so their signals can leak through smaller openings.

Also a cell phone only has to connect with one cell phone tower, so the phone can have multiple elevated transceivers to pick from.

%26gt;how much will a non-line-of-sight communication affect the quality and distance?

Line of sight is sort of an over simplification. Mobile phone/walkie-talkie/TV/radio waves can also get from one place to another by reflection and diffraction. Look at the first link below for examples of diffraction of TV signals.

But while line of sight is a pretty sure thing, reflection %26amp; diffraction are not a very sure things. You just have to try it and see if it works at all!

If you have an amateur radio license, there is also a solution called a "repeater". See last link.If I am on the other side of a hill or non-line-of-sight with a walkie-talkie, can I communicate at all?
A walkie talkie , can, depending on the distance to talk from point a to point be, as long as this is not a huge hill and you , depending on the power of the units, are within range. I had a good pair of walkie talkies when I was a teenager and could talk probably 6 or 7 miles away from one anotherIf I am on the other side of a hill or non-line-of-sight with a walkie-talkie, can I communicate at all?
With a walkie talkie it depends on the output. Phones communicate by relay from a tower, on a very differen frequency which is digital as well. These things all make a difference.